Portal Cubed
by Wolverinejoe
Summary: After Chell is released, she discovers the abandoned laboratory of an old rival of Aperture's...
1. Opera

_**Hello, all! Wolverinejoe here! This is my first published fanfic, Portal Cubed, contimuing ditectly after the events of Portal 2.**_

_**I hope you enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own a portal gun...**_

GLaDOS chuckled sadly. "It's been fun. Don't come back."

Her words hurt me more than I thought they should. Though I was loathe to admit it, I actually had feelings for the A.I. She had been in my life for longer than I could remember. I would miss her. The elevator stopped in front of a red door. I took a deep breath as the door slowly opened. Was this really happening?

The door opened, revealing four turrets staring directly at me.

My breath caught in my throat. I should have known GLaDOS wouldn't let me go. I was an idiot for trusting her! She was going to kill me. It was simple as that.

One by one, the turret lights clicked off. I stared at the turrets. What was going on?

A quiet hum emanated from the turrets. A tune began to play as the turrets opened and closed their guns in time with the music.

The turrets were singing. Singing a song for me. I grinned as the elevator began to rise, revealing room after room of singing turrets.

The lift rose into a very large room, filled to the brim with turrets, who had very suddenly gone silent. A single turret finished humming its tune and closed. A large, round turret opened and began singing proper. I mean that literally. The turret sang.

_ Cara bella, cara mia bella!__  
><em>_ Mi bambina, o Chell!__  
><em>_ Ché la stimo__  
><em>_ Ché la stimo__  
><em>_ O cara mia, addio!_

_ La mia bambina cara,__  
><em>_ Perché non passi lotana?__  
><em>_ Sì, lotana de Scïenza__  
><em>_ Cara, cara mi bambina?__  
><em>_ Ah, mia bella!__  
><em>_ Ah, mia cara!__  
><em>_ Ah, mia cara!__  
><em>_ Ah, mia bambina!__  
><em>_ O cara, cara mia..._

The turrets' song faded into silence as the elevator reached another door. A single tear fell from my cheek as the door swung open, revealing a field of amber grain. I walked out slowly, feeling the warm sun on my face and the cool breeze.

The door closed with a bang. I turned around and saw that this exit to Aperture Science was, in fact, merely a small shack in the middle of the wheat field.

Suddenly, the door opened again. A large cube was thrown out beside me, and the door shut once again. I thought I heard GLaDOS' voice, saying, "Goodbye, Chell."

My eyes focused on the cube. It was large and burnt, but one could just barely make out pink hearts on the sides.

My eyes widened. I gasped. Was... was this my Companion Cube? I gently ran my hands down its metal sides, and the Cube started softly humming the Turrets' Opera.

A choked sob escaped my throat. After all this time, my dreams had come true. I was free, GLaDOS was no longer trying to kill me, and I had my Companion Cube. I turned to face the shack. A small camera was trained on me.

"Thank you, GLaDOS," I whispered. I stood there for a moment, then turned and walked away, the Companion Cube safe in my arms.

I was free.

**_There's a lonely review button down below. Won't you be it's friend and give it a click?_**


	2. Subject Spying

_**Hello once again! Chapter Two awaits below!**_

_**Also, I apologize for starting this out so slowly… but I do hope you enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I really, really wish I could say I owned a supercomputer with Artificial Intelligence, but I don't. Sigh…**_

GLaDOS was bored.

She wasn't supposed to get bored. She was a supercomputer, after all. The humans who designed her had created her to have full reign over the whole of Aperture Science. Her duties ranged from making sure no human ever stumbled upon the complex to maintaining the vital functions of her facility to - well, let's just she really shouldn't be bored.

But bored she was.

On the cooperative testing track, Orange and Blue had just finished a relatively easy chamber. However, the two units took forever to solve the simplest of tests, and even then it was by a rudimentary process of elimination, seeing as how every time they made a mistake, their bodies were remade, and another way not to complete the test scratched off the list.

The co-op testers celebrated their victory with an absurd little dance and shared a hug.  
>GLaDOS groaned. "Well done. You two completed that test in only twenty-one minutes and forty-six seconds. It may interest you to know that the best ever time for this particular test is precisely four minutes and eleven seconds. So congratulations on being seventeen minutes and thirty-five seconds slower than Chell [Redacted]. Good for you."<p>

The two bots reluctantly broke away from each other and went on to the next test.

If GLaDOS had eyes, she would have rolled them. Orange and Blue were too, well, human. It was downright odd. Had they been programmed to act like people? Were they corrupted?

Blue fell into an acid pit. Orange looked on in horror as her counterpart dissolved into nothingness before being recreated and walking back into the testing area. She rushed over to him, warbling in their little language. Blue looked abashed - or, at least as abashed as a robot could look - a murmured what GLaDOS took to be an apology. Orange said something else, wrapping Blue in yet another hug.

Yep, GLaDOS thought, definitely corrupted. She sighed. "As I have said before, cooperative testing robotic relations are not a part of these tests. Please pick up your Aperture Science Handheld Portal Devices and continue with the current test chamber."

Orange and Blue complied, reattaching their portal guns to their arms, albeit very reluctantly. Blue said something, GLaDOS took it to be an insult, and Orange laughed.

Annoyed, GLaDOS checked the security cameras installed around Aperture Science. Nothing, nothing, nothing, bird, nothing, bird, nothing. No sign of any humans. No sign of Chell.

Please. Had she honestly expected that her former test subject would stay anywhere near Aperture? The place where she had been a captive since she was a child? The place where she had been treated not as a human being, but as a test subject? The idea was laughable.

But still...

Ever since their adventure into Old Aperture, and GLaDOS' discovery of Caroline, the A.I. had grown fond of her silent companion. When Chell had saved her from that hated, murderous bird, GLaDOS had felt a spark of emotion from deep within her circuitry that she still felt now. Gratitude? Of course, but that was not all she felt. Debt, perhaps? Whatever the case, she still would like to see Chell again.

Maybe I should check the camera I placed inside the old Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube I gave her, she thought.

No, another part of her said. Let her be. You let her go, you have no right to spy.

Yes, but then, I had Wanted Her Gone. That is no longer the case. Just a quick peek. To check on her. For scientific purposes. To see how a former test subject reacts after a week of freedom.

For science, you say?

Yes. For science.

Very well then, but make it quick. See how she's doing and if, in fact, she is Still Alive. Then back to the co-op testing.

It took GLaDOS exactly two seconds to lock on to the signal coming from the Weighted Companion Cube and triangulate its precise location. It took another two seconds to patch through to the hidden camera, and for it to come into focus.

Lo and behold, there she was. Chell. The former test subject was sitting with her back to the Companion Cube, warming herself by a fire. She still wore her Aperture Science Testing Jumpsuit, which was muddy and grass-stained.

For some odd reason, GLaDOS really wanted to see Chell's face. She couldn't talk, of course, because then Chell would know GLaDOS was there. So she tapped into the Companion Cube's mainframe and typed in a command.

Far away, a certain Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube began to softly sing.

_Cara bella, cara mia bella..._

_**Ah, GLaDOS. Such a fun character to write.**_

_**There will be action in Ch. 3! I swear it!**_

_**Do NOT push the review button. It will only end badly for you. ;)**_


	3. Black Mesa?

_**Back! Sorry for the delay, I blame life…**_

_**Disclaimer: Do you really need to ask?**_

I jumped off the ledge into space.

I fired a blue portal an instant before I smacked into the hard floor and sailed through the orange portal to the Storage Cube. I flipped and, grabbing the Cube in midair, landed at the far end of the test chamber. I placed the Cube on the button and walked through the Emancipation Grid to the elevator.

The next chamber was huge. A button stood near the entrance door.

I pressed the button.

Suddenly, the panels that made up the floor slid back. I fell down, down, down. I fell into a pit of fire. The flames had only just begun to lick at my skin when I awoke.

"No!" I shouted, bolting up off the wet ground. Wait. Where was I? I panicked for two seconds, then remembered. I'm out. Free.

I took several shaky breaths. It was still dark; the sun had not yet risen.

I sighed. No point going back to sleep now, if I even could. I douse the remaining embers of the last night's fire, pick up my Companion Cube, and head out.

I had been free for a week. It had taken me an entire day to just find my way out of the corn field that held the entrance to Aperture. I had been wandering aimlessly since then, hoping to find - well, anything, really. I had been searching for anyone else, some other person, one other survivor of whatever had happened while I was in stasis. The announcer voice had hinted at it - the image of the Animal King turret invading some political summit was still stuck in my mind - but I had never received a straight answer. So I had absolutely no idea what awaited me if I ever did find my way back to civilization.

The chances of which seemed to grow smaller with every passing day.

My stomach rumbled. I rubbed my eyes and saw an apple tree in the dim light. I snag a piece of fruit from the ground and sink my teeth into it. It's the first thing I'd eaten since I found a bushel of blueberries two days before.

I set my Cube at the base of the tree and sit down atop it. I take another bite of my apple and observe the forest. The trees don't seem to end, and I began to have very real doubts that I'd ever find my way out. I run my fingers over the edge of the Companion Cube, which began to hum, and it hits me. Not the Companion Cube, but an idea. I look up at the apple tree. It was tall.

I stand on my Cube and grab a low-hanging branch. I pull myself up and start to climb.

It takes me a good ten minutes to reach the top of the tree, if that's any indication of how large it was. I carefully part the branches and stick my head through the leaves.

The forest extends on and on. I can't find an end to it, though I surveyed the sea of green for a long time. Finding nothing, I turned to head back down the tree.

But wait. What was that? Through the corner of my eye, I could barely make out a small grouping of buildings in the dim light. I scrambled down the tree. In my excitement, I slipped off the branch and fell ten feet to the earth below. I'm so disoriented, I couldn't even land on my Long-Fall boots, and wound up lying on my back, the breath knocked out of me, as a single thought ran through my head.

City to the left, city to the left, city to the left, city to the left, city to the left, city to the...

I forced myself to my feet and, pausing only a moment to pick up my Cube, started running.  
>The buildings were at the bottom of a large hill, which explained why I wasn't able to see them before. I didn't stop running, laughing as I did so, and raced down the steep incline at a breakneck pace. I must have looked absolutely crazy, a fully grown woman clutching an odd metal cube, running at full speed towards a city.<p>

I must have looked like a lunatic. A dangerous lunatic, at that. If I had been some random person watching myself race down that hill, I would have been scared.

My flight towards the city was interrupted by my tripping over something. I went airborne, the Companion Cube flying out of my hands and tumbling down the hill. I, on the other hand, landed face first on the muddy ground.

Thank God GLaDOS hadn't been there. I would have never have heard the end of it.

I rolled over and wiped the mud off my face. Grumbling to myself, I glanced behind me to see what it was that had completely ruined this moment.

A pale face stared back at me.

I yelped and scrambled backwards several feet. The face didn't move, just kept watching me, its lips pulled back in a final, terrible scream. Very slowly, so as not to disturb it, I stood.

It was dead. The woman's corpse was horrifying. Partly decomposed, it stank, and parts of it seemed to have been ripped off its body by some hungry animal. In her arms was a small bundle of cloth. It, too, was ripped at and rotten.

I passed a hand over my mouth and swallowed the overwhelming sense of nausea rising in the pit of my stomach. Taking deep breaths, I closed my eyes and turned my back on the gruesome scene. Retrieving my Cube, I continued on to the buildings below.

The city was eerily quiet. The only thing I heard as I walked down the middle of a street was the flutter of wings as a flock of birds took to the skies as I neared the city center.

At the very center of the city was a large cluster of buildings, walled off by a ten-foot barrier of concrete. A small gate, barely big enough for a truck to pass through, seemed to be the only way in or out of the complex. It was open.

I stepped through the gate and saw what once might have been a beautiful garden, but was now an overgrown mess of weeds and trees. The foremost building looked like it was made completely out of glass, and was connected to the other buildings by strange tube-like structures.

The doors were locked. I jiggled the handle a few times, trying to force the lock, but nothing happened. Hoisting my Companion Cube into the air, I brought it down hard on the glass. A large crack appeared. After two more hits, the doors shattered, and I was able to step through the broken glass into the cool air inside the building.

An alarm sounded, making me jump. I waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened, and the alarm turned off after a few more minutes.

The room was mostly empty, save for a few old desks and some dusty computers. The room split into four hallways that led to the other buildings I had seen outside. A sign hung above each hallway. **TEST CHAMBERS**,** MAIN LABORATORIES**, **STAFF HOUSING**, and **STORAGE**.

_Wait._ _Test chambers? Where am I? This sure as hell better not be Aperture_, I thought to myself. At any rate, there was no way I'd go down that hall. I glanced around and chose the one labeled **MAIN LABORATORIES**.

My footsteps reverberated down the long hallway, and the lights flickered on and off as I slowly made my way to the metal door at the end of the hall. It was slightly ajar.

I placed a hand on the cool metal, and it creaked open. I stepped through.

A huge, circular room stood before me. It was plush and swanky-looking, and reminded me of the offices from the '50s down in Old Aperture. A buzzer sounded, and I half expected to hear Cave Johnson's voice telling me 'the future starts with you' and to 'not make lemonade'.

Instead, I heard a woman's voice. My breath caught in my throat before I realized it wasn't GLaDOS, but rather some lady I had never heard before.

"Hello, and welcome to the Black Mesa Main Laboratories." Black Mesa? Where had I heard that name before? "If you are a regular employee, please enter the voice-activated passcode to disable any security protocol." Security protocol? I had a bad feeling about that. "Hmm. Since you have not entered any password, you have been classified as an intruder, and two Black Mesa Mobile Security Turrets have been dispatched to your location. Have a nice day."

Oh. Crap. I started running just as two machines burst through the doors and started firing. They were large, larger than Aperture Turrets, anyway, and painted black and red. I dove behind a desk, but not before one of the turrets locked on to me and fired a single bullet.

I felt a searing pain in my left arm. I gasped in pain and dropped to the floor. I'd never been shot before. True, I'd been shot _at _more times than I could count back at Aperture, but this was the first time one of them had actually _hit _me.

Clutching my bad arm, I started running again, but the Companion Cube was too heavy for me to lift with only one arm. I took a deep breath and threw it as hard as I possibly could towards the turrets. I heard a C_lang! _as I took off running in the opposite direction.

_ Goodbye, Cube, _I thought sadly, bursting through a door to a stairwell and sprinting upwards. I didn't stop until I reached the top of the stairs. I glanced down the stairs. Not seeing the Mobile Turrets, I took several deep breaths and opened the door. Maybe I could find a window to jump through.

I stood in a large office. The walls were adorned with several framed newspaper clippings and painted black and red. A large desk faced the door, up against the wall of glass showing the city in the background. In the desk chair a skeleton sat, grinning its bony deathgrin up at me.

I felt light-headed as I saw the skeleton and the .45 pistol lying on the floor. But that wasn't the only thing on the desk.

_GlaDOS would kill to see this, _I thought. Then I remembered. Black Mesa. Cave Johnson had gone on and on about them down in Old Aperture. The two companies were old rivals, but Black Mesa usually seemed to come out on top of the competition. And now _this. _GLaDOS must not have been lying when she said they never got anywhere without stealing Aperture technology.

The Mobile Turrets burst through the door. I grabbed the .45 on the floor and dove over the desk. The Turrets opened fire, ripping the wooden desk to shreds. I returned fire, managing to hit one in its – face? Optic? – And it fell, letting out a metallic shriek. The other paused when it saw its companion fall, giving me enough time to grab the contents on top of the desk and jump through the window.

I landed on the concrete below, my Long-Fall boots absorbing the shock of the, well, long fall. I stood and looked back up at the smashed glass to see the Mobile Turret looking down at me, assessing the distance to the ground.

I started running.

_**Reviews are really cool! **_

_**-Wolverinejoe**_


	4. Welcome Back

_**Hello once again!**_

_**Filler chapter is filler. Problem?**_

_**Disclaimer: Don'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutit….**_

GLaDOS had been watching.

Of course she had been watching. Science was 80% observation, after all. The other 20% consisted solely of testing. Well, perhaps it was 70% observation, 30% testing. _Maybe _60-40.

She had watched as Chell had discovered the city in the forest. She had watched as she had stumbled upon the Black Mesa Research Facility. GLaDOS had known of its existence, or course, and the idea still made her circuits sizzle. To have a _Black Mesa _facility practically next door was infuriating madness. She had watched as Chell had tripped the alarm and been attacked by Black Mesa Security Mobile Turrets, which _coincidentally _looked _oddly _familiar to Aperture Turrets. GLaDOS had seen Chell get shot, and then actually _throw _her Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube at the Mobile Turrets.

The fragile camera inside the Cube had broken after that, leaving GLaDOS to guess at the fate of her former test subject. Killed by the Mobile Turrets? It was likely. Somehow managed to miraculously escape the murderous machines and made it out alive? Less likely, but not impossible, and given Chell's sheer determination and willpower, it was probable indeed. After all, the lunatic had even managed to survive all the tribulations of Aperture, surely two inferior _Black Mesa _machines couldn't terminate the girl, correct? GLaDOS could only hope.

GLaDOS checked the perimeter cameras. Nothing. She had half a mind to dispatch Blue and Orange to try and locate the lunatic. The cooperative bots_ had _finished their daily testing track, and were now goofing off, acting like human children, with their Dual Portal Devices, making each other fall through infinite loops and the like.

GLaDOS sighed. "The Aperture Science Dual Portal Device is not a toy, and should be treated as such." Orange jabbered something to her counterpart, and the two laughed. "Orange, Blue, report to my chamber immediately. I have a _special _assignment for you two."

The bots complied, giving each other anxious glances.

GLaDOS did another perimeter check. Still nothing. Blue and Orange entered the chamber, looking around nervously.

"Oh, calm down," said the computer. "You aren't in trouble." The bots relaxed. "As I said, I have a special mission for you. I have been observing Chell [Redacted], the former test subject you saw last week, through a camera I placed in an old Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube. She is in trouble. Her last known location was ten miles due west of here, in an abandoned Black Mesa Research Facility." The co-op bots visibly stiffened, the age-old hatred between the rival companies programmed into their circuitry. "You two are to locate her and bring her back here, understood?" Orange nodded. "Good. Be quick. She is injured, and may be being chased by -"

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

The three Aperture machines looked skyward.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

GLaDOS checked the camera. There, banging desperately on the metal door with her right arm – her left was hanging limply by her side, was the lunatic herself. A firearm was tucked into a makeshift belt she made with her Aperture Science Official Testing Jumpsuit, which was torn and bloody. On the ground next to Chell were several slightly crumpled pieces of paper, along with and odd rifle-like object that GLaDOS could not identify.

The door opened, and Chell rushed inside, grabbing the papers and rifle. The fear in the test subject's eyes told GLaDOS that she was indeed under chase by Mobile Turrets, and the A.I. quickly shut the door and lowered the lift.

Orange and Blue twittered nervously, unaware of the goings-on aboveground.

The lift stopped, and Chell stepped off. The _clack-clack _of her Aperture Science Long-Fall Boots were audible in the chamber, which was silent except for the ambient hum of electricity. The co-op bots chattered excitedly, pointing at Chell and looking up at GLaDOS.

"Hello, Chell," the supercomputer said, her optic staring down at the human.

The test subject – _former _test subject – stared right back. "Hello, GLaDOS."

Huh. So she _could _talk. "Hold on for a moment while I strike 'mute' from your record. There. Now all that's left is 'dangerous' and 'lunatic'. Here's a thought experiment for you: why would an all-powerful supercomputer allow a dangerous lunatic inside her facility?"

Chell's hand drifted down to her belt. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you knew I wasn't that dangerous?"

GLaDOS snorted. "As if. Have you forgotten when you tried to destroy my facility? _Twice? _I believe I am justified in my questioning."

"I'm being chased by Black Mesa."

"I'm well aware."

"…The Companion Cube?"

"No, the Long-Fall boots. Of course the Companion Cube. I watched your little 'episode' inside Black Mesa."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"Should it?"

"Touché. I found something you need to see."

"And what would that be?"

"Black Mesa's answer to the ASDPD." Chell hefted the rifle in her hands and fired. A red circle appeared on the wall. She fired again. A black circle appeared, opening a portal between the two, which the human stepped through. "The Black Mesa Bi-Portal Tactical Rifle."

GLaDOS was silent for a long time. Then she let out a piercing scream that made the lights flicker off and on. Chell took several steps back, watching the queen of Aperture's chassis rock back and forth as the computer raged. "MESA!" she seethed. _"Itwasn'-sciencewedid_? You stole the APERTURE SCIENCE DUAL PORTAL DEVICE!"

Chell had backed away until she was parallel to Orange and Blue, who were clutching each other and shaking with fear. The supercomputer fumed for two full minutes before finally calming down. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she said.

"It's my fault," Chell began, but was cut off.

"No. You did good to show me that. I needed to see it. The Research Facility was abandoned, correct?"

"Yeah. The only other person I saw-"

"Was dead. Yes, I saw that girl."

"And the skeleton."

What? "What?"

"After I threw Cube at the Turrets, I ran to the top of the building. I found what I think was the CEO's office. There was a skeleton sitting in the desk chair, and a gun lying on the floor. That's where I found the papers and the Portal Rifle."

"What was in the papers?"

"Don't know. After I found the Rifle, I ran straight here."

"Without stopping?"

"Yep."

"That's just over ten miles. That is quite a feat, especially with a wounded arm. Speaking of which, you should report to the Aperture Science Medical Bay immediately for treatment. I want to know how serious that bullet wound is."

Chell looked up at GLaDOS. "Alright."

The computer's optic bobbed up and down, the A.I.'s version of nodding. Some panels flipped back, revealing a hallway that led to the Medical Bay. "Just follow the signs."

"Okay." Chell picked up the papers and Rifle and walked down the hall. She paused. "GLaDOS?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Without another word, the former test subject turned and made for the Medical Bay.

GLaDOS watched until she had found a hospital room and fallen asleep before dismissing the camera feed and turning her attention towards a chamber she'd affectionately dubbed 'Creation Room'.

She had work to do.

_**Like it? Hate it? Want to fill my lungs with neurotoxin? Tell me in a review!**_


	5. On Morons

_**Hello! I'm back! I really apologize for the long wait, but I had some trouble working all the kinks out of this chapter, if that makes any sense. But anyways…**_

_** Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Portal.**_

I woke up twice before finally rolling over and yanking open my eyes.

"So you're awake. That's good. I was wondering if you'd slipped into a coma." GLaDOS's voice came on over the speakers. "The Medical Personnel examined your arm, in case you were wondering. You're quite lucky. The bullet passed within a millimeter of your humerus. That's a bone in your arm, by the way."

I glanced at the arm in question, which has been wrapped in gauze. All I could feel was a dull throb where I had been shot. It hung limply by my side. I poked at it, and a shockwave of pain ran up and down my side.

"Oh, yes, let's poke the place where you were shot by Mobile Turrets, why don't we? That sounds like a _great_ idea."

I stood up and stretched. The red eye of the camera followed me as I walked around the small room, strangely energetic despite my past few days. That Adrenal Vapor must be really potent stuff. I fidgeted with the Black Mesa Rifle for a few moments, feeling the comfortable weight of the Device resting in my hands. I aimed down the sights and pantomimed shooting a portal at the white wall. "_Shoof_."

"What _are _you doing?" GLaDOS asked, her voice full of disapproval. "You really shouldn't be playing with that thing. It's Black Mesa, after all. I wouldn't be surprised if it randomly exploded for no good reason. Here at Aperture, all _our _inventions explode for _extremely _good reasons. If you find a large red button anywhere on that thing, _don't _press it. That goes for any Aperture technology, as well."

I smirked, but cast a quick glance over the Rifle anyways. There's no button.

"If you're done playing, come to my chamber. We need to talk. Bring those pieces of paper you took from Black Mesa with you. They could be important."

I nodded and grabbed the papers littering the floor. The panels in the wall flip open with a flourish. Taking a deep breath, I shoulder the Rifle and walk into my – former? – Enemy's chamber.

She seems larger than I remember. Her golden optic was focused on me, and I on it. There was no sound, save for the low hum of electricity. We stood, well _I _stood, she, well, hung, I guess. We watched each other for a long time.

_First, I'll portal up to the catwalk above herm _I think, mentally mapping out a battle plan. _Then, I'll jump off and fling myself from the wall right at her power cables. I'll keep doing that until she shuts down. If she doesn't, I'll try the same thing; only try to hit her optic with my Long-Fall Boots._

"Rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, dilation of the pupils: you don't have to be nervous, you know."

I beg to differ.

"Really, now. Have you forgotten I let you go? It was only nine days ago. Even though you tried to kill me, _twice, _I decided to set you free. And you _came back. _I thought we had put the whole 'mortal enemies' thing behind us."

I shrugged. She had a point.

"Anyways. I've dispatched a squad of Military Androids to, ah, collect those Mobile Turrets that were chasing you. They should arrive back at any moment."

"Military Androids?"

"Yes. Humanoid robots designed for military purposes that I've reprogrammed for security. A High-Tec police force, if you will. You remember Test Chamber 16, yes? I believe I said something along the lines of-"

"A live-fire course designed for Military Androids. Yeah, I remember. It wasn't a mistake, was it? Sending me through that chamber. All part of the test, right?"

GLaDOS sighed. "Yes. All part of the test. For Science."

I nodded. "I thought so. There was a Den in that chamber."

"A Den? Are you referring to those insipid little antechambers that Doug Ratmann created?"

"Uh… yes?" It had a bunch of words and phrases scribbled on the walls, along with pictures that he drew. Some of them of me. He was a good artist, but they were bit too weird for my taste."

"Ha. Ha. The vandalism of Testing Chambers is hardly a laughing matter. Doug Ratmann was a diagnosed schizophrenic, and was more than a little crazy. He carried an Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube with him wherever he went, and was known on more than one occasion to actually _speak _to it, believing it could actually _talk back. _Which it _couldn't."_

I winced when she mentioned the Companion Cube. Mine still lay in the abandoned halls of Black Mesa. "He wasn't completely crazy. Some of the things he wrote on the wall turned out to be true. Namely; 'The Cake Is A Lie' and 'She's Watching You', with a sketch of one of the cameras right beside it."

A bell rang, and the elevator opened. Five human-looking _things _stepped out. Their optics were blood-red, and they briefly glanced at me before turning their attention to GLaDOS. They saluted, and one stepped forward to speak with the supercomputer.

"These are the Military Androids, Chell, "GLaDOS said. "Say hello, Captain."

The lead Android turned and saluted me. "Hello." Its voice was cold and metallic, a strange mix between GLaDOS, the Turrets, and human vocals.

"Uh…hi," I say, copying the salute. The Captain's optics remains focused on me for another second before returning its gaze to GLaDOS.

"Report: The two Black Mesa Mobile Turrets were captured and neutralized. Military Android Delta-Four-Six sustained damage to its energy supply, and was disabled. Nonetheless, we deactivated the Mobile Turrets and brought them – as well as Delta-Four-Six – here."

"Good," GLaDOS said. "Good work. Take Delta-Four-Six to the Android Reassembly Room for repairs. As for the Mobile Turrets, bring them to the Creation Room for _examination. _That is all." A small shudder ran down my spine. The way GLaDOS said 'examination' made me want to run away and hide.

The Androids saluted and carried the inactive Mobile Turrets and their fallen comrade away.

I waited until the panels had closed before speaking. "That was _weird._"

"Yes. The Military Androids are not exactly a talkative bunch. They do what they are told, and not much else. But let's get to work, shall we? You brought those papers you took from Black Mesa, yes?"

"…Huh? Oh, yeah. The papers." I put the Rifle on the floor and pulled the crumbled papers from my pocket. I sat down on the cold floor and flipped through them. GLaDOS lowered her optic so she was looking over my shoulder.

"Wait. That one. Read it," She said, indicating a lengthy, official-looking one. I glanced over it briefly before reading.

"From the Desk of Wallace Breen," I read. "Wallace Breen?"

"Head Administrator of Black Mesa," GLaDOS said. "Like Cave Johnson is to Aperture. Keep reading."

"'Top Secret: For Executive Eyes Only.

"'We've done it again, gentlemen. Our undercover agents at Aperture Science have told us of a new breakthrough that could leave Black Mesa in the dust. Codenamed 'Tier 3', the project is an innovation in Quantum Tunneling. It seems Cave Johnson is not the idiot we assumed him to be. His newest creation, the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, is a device with the ability to manufacture two linked 'portals'. No matter the distance between them, any object which passes through one of these portals will emerge from the other instantaneously. These portals can be placed on nearly any object large enough to accommodate them. Also, these Quantum Tunnels maintain the speed and velocity of any object traveling through them.

"'This Device is perhaps the greatest technological advancement since – well, since anything. It has the potential to revolutionize the modern world. While the ASHPDs are not yet fully completed, steps must be taken to prevent Aperture from developing and mass-producing them.

"'So, our two moles currently working at Aperture – Noah Mackie and Ryan Wheatley, namely – were able to send me the blueprints of a fully functional ASHPD. With this information, I have created the Black Mesa Bi-Portal Tactical Rifle, or the BMB-PTR. Also, Ryan Wheatley has been selected by Cave Johnson to have his consciousness uploaded into a computer, a type of 'personality core', for reasons unknown to us at this time.

"'The BMB-PTR has not yet been fully constructed, but is scheduled for release – both military and public – by late 200-.' Huh. The year '200-'is cut off."

"It doesn't matter," GLaDOS said. "What really matters is –wait. Did that letter say 'Ryan Wheatley'?"

I check the letter. "Yeah. Twice. Why, do you know hi-"Then it hit me. Ryan Wheatley? "Oh my God."

GLaDOS was silent for a long minute. I looked around for a possible exit, but the chamber was sealed.

Then she screamed.

Her earlier rage at the discovery of the BMB-PTR was nothing compared to this. Her voice echoed through the chamber, her fury obvious as she quaked about her cables connected to the AI snapped, and a shower of sparks cascaded down on me. The lights burst, and the chamber was plunged into darkness.

"I'llkillhimI'llkillhimI'llkillhimI'llkillhim _I'llKillHimI'llKillHimI'llKillHimI'llKillHimI'llKillHim I'LKILLHIM!" _was GLaDOS's mantra as emergency lights flickered on, bathing the room in red light. The lights reflected off the enraged form of the supercomputer, and it looked like she was covered in blood. She might as well have been. "I swear on Science itself, I will make that Moron pay." Her voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

And I believed her. Never mind the fact that Wheatley was in space. She would.

**_LINE BREAK!_**

Meanwhile, 200,000 miles away, a certain personality core drifted lazily through nothingness. Nearby, another sphere floated, inactive. The Space Core had lost power and been disabled, leaving the Intelligence Dampening Sphere alone in the vacuum of space.

Wheatley didn't mind. The corrupted core had rambled on endlessly, completely and totally obsessed with the nothingness they had coasted through. It made Wheatley's head hurt. He had been happy when Space Core's batteries had finally worn out. Now it was just him.

Which was good. Wheatley certainly didn't need a corrupted _Aperture _personality core about. Even if the Space Core hadn't been corrupted, the stupidity of Aperture Science would have eventually corrupted Wheatley's own thoughts.

One needs their sanity intact when plotting revenge.

Wheatley hated Aperture, despised it with a burning passion that spread through him like the electricity that flowed through his circuits. Not only had the bumbling idiots managed to place him, Ryan Wheatley, in a core designed for the very purpose of making _bad ideas, _along with the fact that he had been marooned in the vast void of space by the very people he had been sent by Black Mesa to counteract and steal from, together those two truths made him seethe with rage and made his circuits pop. He looked down at the Earth he orbited.

Wait. It seemed, _larger, _somehow. Yes, it was definitely larger. That could only mean…

He was landing.

It took perhaps five seconds for Wheatley's internal computer to calculate where he would land. He pulled up an aerial view of the coordinates. If he were in his human body, he would have grinned the kind of grin that makes children run and hide between their mother's legs. It was all too perfect.

His descent was fast. He entered Earth's atmosphere, gained velocity, and flew through the sky incredibly fast, going over large fields of decayed wheat and ancient forests before smashing through an cracked pane of glass – along with several thin office walls – and landing on the cool wooden floor. After running a systems check to make sure he was still fully operational, he addressed the empty room in which he lay.

"Computer: Identification: Ryan Wheatley. Password: Alpha-Beta."

"Identification: Complete. Password: Accurate. Welcome back, Wheatley," said the smooth voice of the computer. "It's been quite some time"

"Aye. It has," He replied. "Take me to the Main Laboratories."

"Bring me back to my body."

_**Weren't expecting that, were you? Well, maybe you were, but it doesn't matter.**_

_**Please click the Review button and tell me what you think! **_


	6. Core Transfer Complete

_** I'm back! Did you miss me? I've been really busy with everything and I've recently developed an addiction to Skyrim. So I apologize for the lateness of this chapter.**_

_** Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just read the story.**_

The low hum of electricity could just barely be heard over the heavy rainfall outside the abandoned halls of the Black Mesa Research Facility.

Well, perhaps not _completely _abandoned.

"Core Transfer complete," announced the computer. There was a _hiss _of compressed air as the Black Mesa Suspended Animation Chamber clicked open. A pale, trembling foot stepped carefully out onto the cold linoleum floor. It was quickly followed by the naked form of a shivering man.

The muscular figure staggered over and collapsed in a nearby chair. Drawing faded breath, Ryan Wheatley looked down on himself. It had been a _long _time since he'd been in this body. Regaining his breath, he walked to a desk, where an Apparatus Vent – also stolen from Aperture, by Wheatley himself, as a matter of fact – had delivered a black pair of jeans and a red tee-shirt. Standard Black Mesa attire. Wheatley chuckled softly to himself as he felt the soft fabric with his calloused hands. It was ironic that he was a red shirt, considering his recent misadventure in space.

The thought only made him angry. He took a few deep breaths to calm his nerve before he opened the door to the Animation Chambers and stepped out into the Research Facility.

Ryan Wheatley knew exactly where he was. He had walked these halls many times. He took two lefts, than a right, and reached the Lobby.

His stomach growled. Hunger was not something Wheatley was used to after God knew how long in a metal sphere. He eyed a vending machine. The frail glass shattered with two quick punches, and Wheatley helped himself to stale Twinkies and lukewarm Powerade.

His hunger dealt with for now, Wheatley made for the Main Laboratories. The door was open wide, and the Black Mesa Spy walked straight through.

And stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. There, lying in the middle of the Laboratory and partially hidden by an overturned desk, was a burnt Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube. Lightning struck outside the building, followed by a _boom _of thunder.

Wheatley approached the Cube with caution. It was Aperture technology, and Wheatley really would not be surprised if it exploded without reason. He kicked it with the side of his foot, and it skidded back a few inches.

"Computer: show me the security feed of the Main Laboratories for the past week," Wheatley ordered, walking to a nearby computer screen, which blinked on. A grainy video feed showed a lady in an orange jumpsuit walking into the Laboratory. She held the Companion Cube in her arms. The lady was asked the password by the computer, but said nothing.

The lady dove behind a desk as two Mobile Turrets opened fire on her, striking her once in the arm. The lady hurled the Cube at one of the Turrets and ran.

The video skipped forward, and changed to the video from the Main Laboratories to one of a fancy-looking office. The lady scooped up – bloody hell, was that a _gun? _– off the floor and took cover behind the desk, on which sat a familiar-looking rifle. The lady shot one of the Mobile Turrets, grabbed the rifle, and jumped out the door.

Wheatley's breath caught in his throat. He knew the lady in the jumpsuit. It was _Her. _The lady from the tests. What was her name? Mel? Rachel? Chell?

Yes. Chell. An image leapt to his mind, unbidden. Of her flying through the air and grabbing onto him for dear life as they were sucked into space.

"Let go!" he had shouted. "Let go, I'm still connected! I can still fix this!"

He had said that. To _her. _She had trusted him, helped him overthrow the Queen of Aperture herself, and Wheatley had tried to kill her.

It didn't matter, he told himself. She was probably dead anyways. She had been Aperture, and therefore she was inferior, and Wheatley shouldn't even think about her. Dismissing her from the recesses of his mind, Wheatley surveyed the security footage once again before closing down the computer.

The monitor blinked off, and Wheatley eyed the Companion Cube once again. He should probably take it upstairs for examination. A small smile played at his lips with the thought. Grabbing the surprisingly heavy Cube, Wheatley hoisted it up onto his back and began to carry it up the long flights of stairs. He deposited the Cube in a side laboratory and glanced out the window. The entire building shook with a low rumbling of thunder.

_**LINE BREAK!**_

GLaDOS was… a little disconcerted, to be honest. The knowledge that a Black Mesa employee – two, in fact – had somehow infiltrated Aperture and stolen all her science made her more than a bit angry. Also, the fact that one of said employees had been selected for a Personality Core and unceremoniously stuck upon her chassis made the supercomputer slightly paranoid.

Chell, of course, felt none of the AI's distress. The former test subject was currently fast asleep in the Medical Bay, where GLaDOS had insisted she return in order to fully recuperate from her gunshot wound.

GLaDOS plugged in to the video feed from the camera where Chell slept. The lunatic's prone form lay inert on the soft mattress. The BMB-PTR leaned next to the bed, within easy reach of Chell's grasp. The firearm that she had acquired from Black Mesa was still tucked in her Testing Uniform.

Perhaps the former subject had felt GLaDOS's distress.

GLaDOS turned her attention to Orange and Blue, on whom the AI had begun a rigorous testing schedule that was designed to optimize both their performance and GLaDOS's levels of testing euphoria. A kind of stress reliever. Not that it worked, but the Queen of Aperture was more than happy to let the little bots test their metaphorical hearts out.

The cooperative testing units were well on their way to completing yet another chamber. GLaDOS watched, semi-interested, as Orange flung herself across a pool of acid and pushed a button. Said button opened a door that Blue quickly leapt through before shooting a portal to Orange, who jumped through, joining her companion. Testing euphoria washed over GLaDOS's circuits as the robots finished the chamber, waiting patiently to be disassembled and transported to the next chamber.

GLaDOS checked the perimeter cameras as Orange and Blue began their newest test. It had become a kind of habit for her over the past week. She checked the main entrance to Aperture. Nothing. The cameras surrounding the building were devoid of anything interesting as well.

GLaDOS plugged into the video feed of the camera outside the emergency exit directly above her chamber. The stalks of decaying wheat were being battered by the heavy rain, bending this way and that. Lightning illuminated the night sky for a split second. GLaDOS saw a dark silhouette standing perhaps twenty yards from her camera.

What in the name of Science?

Lightning struck again, and GLaDOS could clearly see the mechanical form of a Mobile Turret standing, its optic blood-red and staring at the shack. Had GLaDOS been a normal human being, she might have recoiled in shock, and let out a yelp of fear.

But GLaDOS was no normal human being. The Queen of Aperture remained plugged into the video feed for a moment or so more before disconnecting and summoning the Captain of the Military Androids, who promptly entered her chamber and saluted.

"Captain, outside the emergency exit aboveground is a remaining Black Mesa Security Mobile Turret.

"Kill it."

The Captain saluted again and strode quickly to the lift, clicking the safety off the submachine gun in his hands. The elevator rose sharply to the surface. The door flung open, and the two machines opened fire on one another.

_**Line Break (Again)!**_

Ryan Wheatley saw through the eye of the Mobile Turret as the Military Android burst out of the shack and opened fire. The Mobile Turret dodged and returned fire, a line of hot lead speeding towards the Aperture Android. Said Android rolled to the side and fired again, somehow managing to clip the Turret across the left side of its body.

The Turret fell to the earth and fired erratically, striking the Military Android in its head. It too, fell to the ground, but rose to its feet after a moment or so.

Wheatley grinned darkly and rose from the computer screen. He stretched his body – something he hadn't done in _ages _– and walked to a nearby window. The black night seemed to stretch on forever, and the rain gave no promise of ever ending. He wondered briefly if GLaDOS had figured out he had sent the Turret. Wheatley seriously doubted it. Aperture technology was just about as dumb as it was useful.

He laughed as he surveyed the dark landscape before him. His genius plan was being set in motion.

Soon he would have his revenge.

_** That was Chapter Six.**_

_** Me: I think they know that…**_

_** Quiet, you.**_

_** Please Review/Favorite/Story Alert if you liked this! That didn't sound too desperate, did it?**_

_** Me: It kind of did…**_

_** Yeah… Oh well.**_


	7. The Return Of The Moron

_**'Sup, people? I'm back! I apologize for the long wait. It's unacceptable, really. But life has been, ah, interesting, to say the least. At any rate, don't worry, The Story Shall Go ON!**_

_** Disclaimer: (Fan), remember? Don't own nothing.**_

I trip over an exposed tree root and fall to the earth.

This was _such _a terrible idea.

The trio of Military Androids behind me stops and stares as I slowly get to my feet, shaking my head and wiping mud from my face. I mentally curse GLaDOS for what has to have been the thousandth time tonight. How on Earth had that oversized calculator convinced me into doing this?

"We have to keep moving," one of the Androids – Delta-Five-Something? – said as I readjust the helmet he had given me before we had left Aperture. "We cannot delay. Time is of the essence."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go then, huh? Wouldn't want to keep Wheatley waiting."

Delta-Five-Whatever ignores my comment. Turning back to his comrades, he continues on.

"Remind me again why I agreed to this, GLaDOS?" I say into the microphone inside my helmet. Because even though I was risking my life in her sworn enemy's facility, she still wanted to talk to me. Probably just so she could tell me what to do, though.

"Because I promised you cake afterwards," GLaDOS replies. "And because you wanted to go."

Oh. Yeah.

Walking onwards, Delta-Five-Something raises his fist. Instantly, the other Mobile Turrets stop, and I walked right into one. It ignored me – the Androids seem to be _quite _good at that – and survey the clearing we had walked into. This was the place I had been. The lady's corpse still lay halfway down the hill, but we were focused on the hive of activity in the nearby Research Facility. Mobile Turrets were stationed throughout the streets, several positioned at the access gate to the Black Mesa facility.

"GLaDOS," I asked. "Can you see this?"

"Yes." She answered. "It seems the Moron has been more productive than I first assumed."

"You don't say?" I quip, watching the nearest group of Mobile Turrets – they seemed to be on some sort of patrol – walk uncomfortably close to our position at the base of the trees. "What do we do?"

"Tell the Androids to execute mission plan Sigma. They will know what to do. Follow their actions _exactly, _and you should be able to get close to the building."

"You know you are insane, right, GLaDOS?" I query, not taking my eyes off the approaching Turrets.

"I am many things, Chell. Insane is not one of them. Genius? Yes. Calculating? Yes. Insane? Not on your life. Do as I say."

I tap Delta-Five-Whatever on the shoulder. "GLaDOS says, 'execute mission plan Sigma.' I'm supposed to follow you and get close to the Facility."

Delta nods and gestures to his fellow Androids, who flip a switch on their rifles and slowly drop to a crouch. I mimic them, resting a hand on the .45 that was still tucked in my jumpsuit.

The Androids slowly walk up to the group of Mobile Turrets on patrol and raise their rifles. Delta signals, and the Androids open fire. I can barely hear the silenced rifles spit out the bullets that end the Mobile Turrets existence. Moving quickly, the Androids pull the Turrets into a nearby alley. I follow, keeping an eye on other patrolling Turrets down the street, who have thankfully not seen the deaths of their comrades.

"Now what?" I ask of the Androids. One – Omega-Three-Nine? I have no idea – peeks out from the alley and surveys the street. He glances at Delta-Five-Whatever. The two machines nod. Delta unclips a metallic object from his belt and throws it down the street. It bounces twice and rolls to a stop at the feet of the Mobile Turrets guarding the entrance to the Facility. The object explodes, but quietly, and the Turrets slump to the ground.

The Military Androids walk out into the street, guns at the ready. I follow the Androids, who step over the inactive Turrets and placidly step into the Facility.

"What was that?" I ask, eyeing the bots.

"EMP grenade," Delta says, his red optic surveying the overgrown gardens surrounding the Black Mesa buildings. We walk to the door of the main building and step inside.

A wave of cold air hits me as we walk into the building. I glance about the building, which is surprisingly empty despite the activity outside.

"Alright. We're in. Now what, GLaDOS?"

"Find the Moron. I don't know how, but that idiot has somehow managed to make his way back to Black Mesa. You need to find him and bring him back here."

"How do you expect me to do that? It's a huge complex. He could be anywhere."

"Two options, Chell. Option One: You stay with the Military Androids and search the entire place together. Option Two: You split up. It's cliché, yes, but you'll cover more ground that way. You'll be able to find him quicker. You're not scared of the Turrets, are you?"

"I'm terrified," I confess. "But I don't want to spend all night here." I glance over to the Androids, who have grouped together and seem to be discussing their next objective. "What do I tell the Androids?"

"Tell them to engage anything that moves. I will not have any more Black Mesa abominations running about."

"Delta," I say. He turns and salutes. "We're splitting up. You and the other Androids are to engage all hostiles. Anything moves, you kill it. Understand?"

He nods and turns back to the Androids.

I sigh and walk towards the Main Laboratory wing of Black Mesa. "Just for the record, GLaDOS, splitting up to cover more ground is how _all _horror movies start."

"How many horror movies have you seen? I highly doubt your parents – adopted or no – allowed a seven-year-old to watch anything even slightly horrific."

"Be that as it may, I've heard enough stories and read enough books."

"Just look for the Moron, alright? Oh, yes, keep your eyes open for the Companion Cube, as well."

I nod, searching about the large room for the metallic constructs. "Where are you?" I ask to the empty room. I look under desks, behind cubicles, inside trash bins, but find nothing. "There's nothing here, GLaDOS."

"Keep looking. It's not like the Moron could get up and walk away."

"On the contrary, luv. That's exactly what happened." Says a voice behind me. I whirl around, hand going to the gun on my belt. Standing in the doorframe is a tall, pale man. His cold blue eyes bore into mine, an evil smirk on his lips. "Now, what have we here?" he asks, walking slowly into the room.

"Who are you?" I ask, backing up, hand still on my pistol. His voice seems familiar, but I can't place it.

The man grins. "What, you don't remember me? It's been all of what, two weeks?"

GLaDOS gasps, or at least what passes for a gasp for the A.I. "That's… Not… Possible."

"What's not possible?" I say into the microphone. Who is he?

"Oh, come of it, luv. Here, let me give you a hint. 'You might have a minor case of serious brain damage.' No? How about, 'This is the part where I kill you.' Still nothing? Wow. Brain damage does a lot to a person. How's this, then. 'Let Go! Let go, I'm still connected! I can still fix this!' Ring any bells?"

My eyes widen as the truth dawns on me. Oh my God. "Wh-Wheatley?"

He laughs. "Took you long enough, didn't it, Chell?" He stretches out my name, making it sound like an insult. "I knew she'd send you here. I knew she would send you to do her dirty work."

"She sent me to find you. To bring you back to Aperture."

"Don't say that name!" He shouts, slamming his fist on a desk. "_Aperture _forced me into that pathetic little sphere and attached me to that behemoth of a machine! _Aperture _made me, _me,_ into a pitiful orb whose only use was bad ideas! _Aperture_ stole me away in the night and hooked me up to some god-forsaken Transfer Device! And it's _Aperture _that's going to pay!"

GLaDOS seems to be in shock. "H-how… How is he human?"

Wheatley hears. "I'm here because of the genius of Black Mesa. My partner, Noah Mackie, had the foresight to save my body after Aperture took me. They were going to throw it in the _Incinerator. _He saved my body, took it here. To the Research Facility. Put me in a Stasis Chamber. A few days after I came online, he sent me a message, saying that if I ever got back to Black Mesa, to tell them to take me here and resurrect me."

"So what now?" GLaDOS asks. I repeat the question.

"Isn't it obvious?" he says, seeming genuinely surprised by her question. "You're going to die, Aperture."

I take an unconscious step back, mentally judging the distance to the nearest door. "We're not in Aperture. GLaDOS is ten miles away, safe underground. You'll never get that far. Even if you could, you'd never be able to kill her."

The man that used to be my ally grins evilly. "That's true." He takes a step forward. "But I _can _kill you."

"Chell, get out of there!" GLaDOS screams as Wheatley rapidly closes the distance between him and I. I whip the gun out of my belt. He pauses only for a moment before continuing his advance.

I fire. The round hits Wheatley in the chest. He staggers backward, but quickly regains his balance. He's laughing as he staggers towards me.

"Run, Chell! Run!" GLaDOS screeches. For once, I listen to her. I turn and sprint out the door to the Main Laboratory. I turn left, then right, trying both to lose Wheatley and find the Military Androids. I turn a corner and slam into Delta.

"Come on!" I shout. "We need to get out of here!"

An alarm sounds. Red lights flash around us as we run to the lobby and out the complex. I glance behind us and see dozens of Mobile Turrets chasing after us. I shoot randomly into the crowd of machines. One, maybe two, fall. The rest don't stop their pursuit.

We don't stop running. We race through the woods, trying to escape the onslaught of Black Mesa. We nearly lose them, but the machines seem somehow drawn to us. Somehow, we manage to make it to the wheat fields.

"GLaDOS," I say, gasping for breath, "Open the doors."

"Hurry, Chell," is her only reply.

We do. I can barely make out the shack that leads to Aperture. I can see the open door. I run as fast as my exhausted legs can carry me. For the second time in as many weeks, I collapse on the elevator lift. The Androids stand guard as the door closes, and the lift begins to descend. I hear gunfire. A lot of gunfire. I swear I'm able to hear Wheatley shouting.

Then the world goes black.

_**Once again, guys, I really apologize for me being too lazy to write this chapter, but I may have had a minor case of serious Writer's Block.**_

_**That's, uh, Wheatley. I was quoting Wheatley there.**_

_**Please Read and Review!**_

_**-Wolverinejoe.**_


	8. A New Android

_**Hey, you guys! I'm back! **_

_** So, yeah, sorry for the wait, yadda yadda yadda, but I think you'll enjoy this chapter. I hope so, because it took me quite a while to write it. **_

_** On an unrelated note, this story (as of 5/5/2012), has a grand total of 3,253 Hits and 1,035 Visitors! That is way more than I ever imagined! I also have 23 Story Alerts to Portal Cubed, along with 12 Favorite Stories! That's incredible!**_

_** Without further ado, Chapter 8!**_

_** Disclaimer (does a disclaimer count as ado?): All I own is the plot and the Mobile Turrets**_

GLaDOS watched through the optic of Beta-One-Eight as said Android was ripped apart by a line of enemy ammunition. Beta-One-Eight fell to the earth, no longer possessing a pair of legs to support it.

Which made him the fifth member of the 'Dead Androids Club'. Their rivals, the 'Inactive Black Mesanites', however, was much more popular. They currently had a population of thirty-seven new recruits. Oops. Make that thirty-eight.

GLaDOS saw this time through Delta-Five-Nine. He (GLaDOS had found it suiting to establish genders between the Androids, at least in her mind. The Androids had no true genders – at least not yet, GLaDOS was still contemplating whether or not to add that feature -, but each Android had certain characteristics that seemed, at least to the Artificial Intelligence in charge of them, distinctly male or female. Delta-Five-Nine was more masculine, or so GLaDOS believed him to be) rolled out from behind cover of the Aperture Science Escape Lift – cleverly disguised as a tool shed – and fired, adding yet another newcomer to the 'Inactive Black Mesanites', or IBM for short. The number of Mobile Turrets had greatly diminished, from over fifty units to what was now approximately seventeen.

The Military Androids, however, still numbered six. Fortunately for Aperture, a squadron of seven Military Androids had been patrolling near the Escape Lift when Black Mesa had attacked. These Androids had joined forces with the Androids returning from the Black Mesa Research Facility, and were making short work of the invading rip-offs. However, the sheer numbers of the Mobile Turrets had, unfortunately, destroyed five of GLaDOS's Androids.

Not that it mattered. Her Military Androids were superior in every way to the Black Mesa Turrets. As GLaDOS watched, Delta-Five-Nine drafted even more Turrets into IBM. He was quite an extraordinary Android, truth be told. He deserved a promotion of some sort. GLaDOS made a mental note to make Delta a Lieutenant at some point in the future.

The Mobile Turrets began to retreat. GLaDOS could hear the distant shouting of the Moron, ordering the Turrets to fall back. Perhaps ten still remained of the fifty plus that had stormed the entrance to Aperture. The scattered Black Mesa robots turned and ran off into the woods, leaving the Military Androids victorious.

GLaDOS turned her attention to the elevator lift. Her former enemy was splayed out on the floor of the lift, blood pooling around her wounded arm. The stress from the mission into Black Mesa and the subsequent flight back must have reopened her wound.

Chell's eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. Breathing heavily, she lifted herself up from the puddle of blood and stood, cradling her injured arm as she did so.

It was almost an exact replica of the moment when GLaDOS had freed her. Chell must have noticed, for she smiled weakly and shook her head. The parallels were quite astounding. The Moron was still their enemy, the human still injured, and the two unlikeliest of allies were still fighting a common threat.

A frail laugh escaped the Queen of Aperture's voicebox. "Well, isn't this a déjà vu moment?"

Chell nodded. An awkward silence ensued, neither of the former rivals breaking the silence. "You saw?" Chell said after a long-drawn-out minute.

"Yes."

"So what happens now?" She asked, glancing up the elevator shaft.

_Many things, _GLaDOS thought inwardly. _This attack was only the beginning. _Outwardly, she merely said, "You go to the Medical Bay and get your arm dealt with. I will stay here."

Chell nodded, walking slowly across the chamber, through the now-open panels, and down the hallway. GLaDOS kept a camera trained on her every step of the way. It was only when her former test subject had tumbled onto a nearby bed and the nanobots begun repairing her injured arm that GLaDOS could wrench her sight away. Even so, she retained the image of her sleeping form in the lower-right-hand corner of her vision as the A.I. began a series of data purges and diagnostics, making sure everything was in working condition.

Business as usual.

_If only._

_**LINE BREAK!**_

A bright haze of white light, along with a dull ringing in her ears, slowly brought Chell back to reality. Her mind was a mess of fuzzy images and loud noises that gave her a headache. She slowly sat up in the bed and rubbed her tired eyes, waiting first for the phosphenes to disappear from her vision, then for her eyesight itself to adjust to the bright light. Chell rubbed her temples, and the ache in her head slowly lessened.

There was a dull pain in her arm. Craning her neck, Chell scrutinized the thin scar running down her left tricep. It had been expertly stitched together, and a pale, white line was all that remained of her encounter with the Mobile Turret's bullet.

She stood up. Cracking her back, she ambled over to the door and tried the handle. It opened, and Chell walked through into the lobby of the Medical Bay. Glancing about the Bay for something she could eat, she spotted a tray of freshly cooked eggs and ham resting on a nearby desk, along with an assortment of fresh fruits.

Chell had never tasted anything so delicious. Patting her now full stomach, she placed the tray back on the desk and made for GLaDOS's chamber, a small smile adorning her face.

Her chamber was a flurry of activity. The screens flashed picture after picture of Black Mesa and of Aperture, blueprints of buildings, readouts of machines Chell had never seen before, and, most frequently, videos of the Mobile Turrets and the Military Androids engaged in combat. The same battle played again and again through different vantage points, which Chell realized to be the viewpoints of the Androids themselves. GLaDOS had managed to record every angle of the firefight for playback and for analysis.

GLaDOS herself was rocking back and forth on her chassis, a stream of numbers and phrases pouring from the speakers around her. "…seventeen on three ninety-two… Overrun. No, I'm forgetting the… Twenty-two… allows for a change in production… four hundred…"

"Am I interrupting something?" Chell asked, stepping into the chamber.

"_Sweet Mother of Alfred Hitchcock!" _the supercomputer screeched, twisting about to face Chell, who took several rapid steps backward. The screens flashed images of crows and an old painting of a woman screaming. "Oh. It's you."

"Uh… Should I take that as a yes?" Chell asked, glancing about the room.

"Oh, no. You're fine. Come on in," GLaDOS answered, flipping the panels of the chamber about. "It's about time you woke up," she said as her one-time enemy walked inside, "You've been asleep for some time. Two days, perhaps. I haven't been paying attention."

"Thanks, I think?" Chell replied. "Been working hard?"

The AI scoffed. "You could say that. I've been thinking. Crunching numbers, as it were. And we have a problem."

Chell braced herself. "…A _problem?_" To hear that phrase in and of itself was never a good thing, but to hear it coming from one of the most advanced supercomputers in the world was even worse, especially when one considered the string of recent events that had left the former subject either passed out on the floor or bleeding profusely.

"Yes. A rather serious problem."

"Please tell me it doesn't involve Black Mesa."

"Even if I did, it would be an outright fabrication. They will be back."

Suddenly, getting out of her comfy bed in the Medical Bay seemed like a terrible idea to Chell. "Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately. I've managed to hack into the security footage from that Research Facility. Here, I'll put it up onscreen." After a moment's hesitation, the monitors began to display a black-and-white video feed of the Facility. Despite the low quality of the footage, Chell could clearly see dozens, if not hundreds, of Mobile Turrets being created and armed. "As you can see, the rate of Mobile Turret production is astounding. But first, a question. Were the two Mobile Turrets that attacked you during your first visit the only ones you came across?"

Chell tore her eyes away from the screen. "Huh? Uh… yeah. I didn't see any others. The whole place was deserted."

"I see. So, if we assume that you were not just being inattentive, and those Mobile Turrets _were _the only ones there prior to the Moron's return, and we estimate the number of Mobile Turrets that attacked you and the Military Androids on the day after to be, oh, shall we say fifty?, then we can deduce that the rate of production for Mobile Turrets is about twenty-five Turrets per day. The rate of production for my Military Androids is one every twelve-hour-period, including training in Test Chamber 16. Are you following me so far?"

Chell nodded.

"Good. Now, during the attack two days ago, the three Military Androids you accompanied to the Research Facility were joined by a squadron of seven Androids on patrol nearby the Escape Lift. Of the ten Military Androids that defended Aperture, five remain active today. The tactics and abilities of the Androids far outmatched the Turrets, as you can well imagine. Since we are assuming the number of attacking Mobile Turrets to be fifty, and ten Androids were able to fend them off with fifty percent casualties, we can infer that for every one Military Android, anywhere from five to ten Turrets were deactivated. With this information, along with our assumed rate of production for the Mobile Turrets along with the speed of manufacturing for my Military Androids, I have deduced that in seven days, the ratio of Military Androids to Mobile Turrets will be seventeen to approximately one hundred and seventy-five. At that point, even if each Android were able to destroy ten Mobile Turrets, there would still be five Turrets left over to take Aperture. In eight days, the number of Mobile Turrets will be two hundred, against some nineteen turrets. We would be Overrun."

Chell stared at the massive computer. Sure, she hadn't understood _all _of GLaDOS's speech, but she knew enough. Unless something drastic happened, Wheatley would be able to have his revenge in a mere week's time. "So what do we do?"

The A.I. sighed. "We have two options. One, we wait here and pray that I'm wrong. Two, we go to Black Mesa and stop the problem at its source."

"Wheatley," Chell said.

"Wheatley. The Moron must be stopped. Now that his consciousness is no longer trapped inside the Intelligence Dampening Sphere, he will be able to plan out his attack. He knows that if he waits, we will have no chance of survival. So he'll wait."

"So… we – and by we, you of course mean _me _- have to go back to Black Mesa, _again, _and, avoiding all the Mobile Turrets that Wheatley'll have roaming around the place, somehow manage to find the Moron, and what? Kill him?"

"Yes. The Moron must die."

The former enemies stared at each other, gray eyes on golden optic. "Okay," Chell said after a long minute. "I'll do it." Her words echoed about the chamber, reverberating off the white walls. "I'll kill Wheatley."

GLaDOS nodded. "You won't be going alone," said the supercomputer, rotating about the chassis.

"I have to. The Military Androids need to stay here, in case He sends more Turrets. Besides, He'll be on the lookout for the Androids. He won't be looking for me."

GLaDOS sighed. "You're right, of course. The Androids need to stay here. However, I have been working on, well, a type of… You know, it's best if I showed you." The panels that made up parts of the floor slid backwards, revealing a secret chamber below. Chell gaped at the massive space before her.

"I call it 'The Creation Room'," GLaDOS said, conversationally. "It's where I design and build all the Aperture equipment. The Military Androids were created here, as were Aerial Faith Plates, Thermal Discouragement Beams, Discouragement Redirection Cubes, and the Long-Fall Boots that you are currently wearing – all Aperture technology (at least those created by me, at any rate) was built here."

"Amazing," Chell breathed.

"It is, isn't it? But it isn't the point. The point is, this is where I have created my pièce de résistance. My greatest achievement. Let me show you." GLaDOS's claw lowered and snagged Chell by the waistline. Chell yelped as she was carried through the air over Crushers and Hard Light Bridges and Excursion Funnels before finally being lowered to the ground.

Chell inspected her surroundings, trying to find what GLaDOS had been so proud about. All she saw were a few ASHPDs and a large, darkish-gray tube of some sort.

"Hold on. This may take a moment," said GLaDOS. The lights flickered, and the _hiss _of compressed air punctuated the otherwise silent room. The tube popped open, and a cloud of white smoke arose from the cylindrical structure.

Chell took a hesitant step towards the tube. The smoke slowly faded away, and Chell saw a pale hand grasp the outside of the cylinder. The hand lifted itself out of the tube, revealing the body it belonged to.

The humanoid creature stepped out of the cylinder. Its skin – if skin was what it was – was the purest white, like someone had accidentally spilled Conversion Gel on it. The Android's snow-white hair fell down to her waist, and its golden eyes found Chell's.

It grinned. "Hello, Chell," GLaDOS said.

_** Do you guys totally hate me now? If so, I'm very sorry, but Android!GLaDOS was in this thing from the beginning. I delayed her arrival because of a review I'd received, but it just had to happen for this story to progress.**_

_** Oh! Who's excited for the Perpetual Testing Initiative? I, for one, can't wait. If you don't know what it is, well, it's a DLC for Portal 2 allowing you to create and share your own customized testing chambers! Think of all that Science!**_

_** Another thing, though. This may sound ungrateful, but I could really use some more reviews. Please, just tell me what you think. It'll take two seconds, and it'll make me happy. It's a win-win.**_

_** -Wolverinejoe**_


	9. Enrichment Shaft

_**So I'm not too proud of this chapter… But it had to be done. Mostly a filler chapter, this one is, so I'll leave you to judge it as you will.**_

_** Disclaimer: Really, guys? Really?**_

To say I was surprised would be like saying GLaDOS was slightly irritated with Wheatley. I stumbled backwards like a drunk and smacked my head on a nearby shelf.

The Android…GLaDOS… grinned as I rubbed my skull. "Well. That went better than expected."

I stared at her. "H-how did you…" I trailed off, leaving the question left unasked.

"Oh, it was quite simple, really," she said, standing (!) and walking towards me. "First, I created a human skeleton using titanium alloys with a compressive strength ten times that of a human. I based the body itself off of scans from the female Test Subjects in the Human Vault. I generated a muscular system similar to that of a human, but added biochemical and neurological augments, making me stronger, faster, and able to react quicker than any _normal _human.

"With that done, I created a skin-like covering for my body, placing microchips in the brain that allow for the upload and download of data within the mainframe of Aperture Science. Also, I have implanted nanochips inside my brain stem, allowing me to maintain full control of the facility, even at a distance of up to twenty miles."

Her detailed description did little to nothing to lessen the shock of seeing GLaDOS in an actual body. Stunned, I reached out and touched her arm. She flinched at my touch, but didn't pull away. "Amazing," I whispered. She was so… _real. _

GLaDOS cleared her throat. "Yes. Well, come on, Chell. We need to go. Evil Moron to kill, remember?"

I started. "Oh. Yeah." I blushed slightly. "Lead the way."

GLaDOS grinned. She closed her eyes for a moment, and I could see her eyes flutter beneath their lids. She opened them, glanced around, and began walking. She paused. "You may need one of those," she said, pointing at the shelf of ASHPDs. Saying nothing more, she turned and walked down the hallway.

I pause for a second. "Wait… what?" I grab a portal device and race to catch up with the Android.

"I found an old passage that can get us close to the Research Facility. This way," she said, turning quickly into another hall and climbing down a flight or so of steps. "It runs through an old Enrichment Shaft. We'll need an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device to make it through."

_**Line Break!**_

Being in a human body was… exhilarating.

GLaDOS had spent a total of fifteen minutes in her new body, and it was truly amazing. Despite all the hours, days, even, that she had put into the construction of the Android, She had never expected it to be so enthralling. She saw everything differently than she had in her Chassis, which now hung limp in her Chamber. Clearly, the human eyes perceived differently than the optic attached to her Chassis. Before, her vision had been mainly composed of emerald-hued images and detailed readouts.

But now! This new vision was, for lack of a better word, incredible. The colors! The detail! Everything was so new, so unexplored. It was breathtaking.

GLaDOS glanced over at Chell. Even _she _looked different. GLaDOS saw details previously unknown to her, like the fact that her eyes were a stormy gray, or the small scar on her lower jaw.

Chell glanced up and saw GLaDOS staring at her. "What?" she asked.

GLaDOS's eyes widened, and she quickly averted her eyes. "Nothing," she said. She paused. "Everything looks different. Yourself included."

Chell seemed to accept this answer, for she merely asked, "How much longer 'till we get to the Enrichment Shaft?"

GLaDOS closed her eyes, accessing the blueprints to the facility. "We're here." She stopped walking and looked to her left. Sure enough, a metal door was there. A sign hung by it, reading 'Enrichment Shaft #5: Momentum.'

"What does that mean?" Chell asked. "The 'Momentum' part."

"Each of the Enrichment Shafts was used to test a certain aspect of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device," GLaDOS explained, hacking into the door's mainframe and entering a command. The door quickly slid open. "The Shaft that we fell down was for the testing of Gels. Repulsion, Propulsion, Conversion; you get the idea. It appears that this Shaft tested how the Portal Device affects the momentum of objects travelling through it. Or, rather, how it does not."

GLaDOS and Chell walked quietly into the Enrichment Shaft. "We're doing to have to test out way through here," GLaDOS admitted.

Chell jerked her head to face the Android. "What?"

"We can't access the Observation Rooms," GLaDOS continued. "Over the years, they eroded and fell into disrepair. Even the door mechanisms don't work. Fortunately, all Testing Chambers are fully functional."

"Ah, yes, how fortunate." The former Test Subject said drily.

"It's this or waiting for the Moron to kill us," GLaDOS countered. Chell fell silent. "Besides, it's not like this is anything you can't handle. These tests are based on _momentum. _Jumping over things. Aerial Faith Plates."

"Let's just get this over with," Chell interrupted, stalking into the first Test Chamber with GLaDOS at her heels.

_**Line Break!**_

I dove out over the deadly water, aiming for a small 4x4 square of portalable panels. _Shwoof. _I sailed through the portals I had just created, the speed of my descent forcing me higher and higher until I landed on the metal walkway leading to the Elevator, which in turn led to the next Test. "Come on, GLaDOS!" I shouted.

The Android looked first at me, then at the pool below us, then back to me. "If it's all the same to you, I'll stay here," She replied nervously.

"Come on!" I repeated. "You've seen me do it a thousand times! Hell, you did it with me while you were in that potato!"

"That was under completely different circumstances!" She insisted, edging away from the drop.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I questioned.

"I could miss the portal, land in the water, and die!"

"For the love of God, GLaDOS! Remember Wheatley and the Mobile Turrets? We kind of have a schedule to keep!"

"Fine!" She shouted, glancing once more into the murky waters below. She backed up, took a deep breath, and leapt out into space. She fell quickly, gaining speed as she descended faster and faster. She screamed as she neared the panels below her.

She missed the portal by a centimeter. She slammed hard on the panels, and fell into the liquid with a splash. I could hear her screams fade into nothingness as she sank to the bottom of the pool.

Nah. Just kidding. She sailed through the portal and joined me at the Elevator. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" I asked.

"N-No. I suppose not," she said through clenched teeth. I chuckle as we ride the Elevator to the next Test.

"How many more chambers, GLaDOS?"

She closed her eyes again. Her eyes fluttered briefly under their lids before I get an answer. "That was Chamber number eleven. There are five left to go."

The lights flickered. "Did you do that?" I asked, eyeing the Android.

She shook her head. "I can't access the lights from this Elevator. The Emancipation Grids interfere with my signals."

They flickered again before shutting off. The Elevator ground to a halt, and the ambient hum of electricity that filled Aperture faded away. The only lights I could see were those on the ASHPD and the thin lines of gold light that ran up and down GLaDOS's body. All I could hear was our own rapid breathing.

"What the Hell?" GLaDOS snarled, turning her head this way and that. In the dim light, I could see hers eyes narrow to slits. "Damn. The Generator that powered this Shaft just died. It had to happen eventually, but now of all times?"

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. "I don't suppose you have a flashlight on you?"

GLaDOS closed her eyes again. When they opened, her sockets shone with a bright white light. Said bright white lights swept over the Elevator, coming to rest on a panel in the ceiling of the lift. "There," she said, walking directly beneath it. She glanced over at me. "Come here. I need you to lift me up."

"What?"

"That panel is detachable. It was designed to come loose, so if something like this ever happened, the Test Subject could get out and, you know, not starve to death. I can't reach it, and I need you to lift me up."

"You could have just said that." I stepped over and took hold of GLaDOS. She's warm, and her skin buzzed with electricity. I lifted her up, she's surprisingly light for a supercomputer, and she punches at the panel. It fell down the Elevator Shaft with a clang. I lift GLaDOS higher, and she climbed out of the Elevator. I toss the Portal Device up to her. GLaDOS caught it and set it down gently atop the Lift. She then turned and grabbed my arms, lifting me up.

"Now what?" I ask, my ASPHD back in my hands.

She looked up the shaft, pointing out a panel at the very top of the Shaft. "Shoot a portal up there. We should be able to bypass the rest of the Test Chambers in the Enrichment Shaft. "

I complied, placing an orange-colored portal where she directed, and a blue one on the wall to the left of us. We jumped through, arriving instantaneously at the top of the Enrichment Shaft. For whatever reason, the lights came back on, so GLaDOS turned off her eyeball-lights.

A buzzer sounded, and Cave Johnson's voice boomed out over the speakers. "Well done, Test Subject! You have completed every Test Chamber in the Enrichment Shaft! Congratulations, and thank you for helping us forward the cause of Science, which in turn helps us help you help us all.

"Now, if you'll follow the blue line painted on the floor – Yep! That's the one! – You'll find a Test Associate who will pay you your fee of sixty dollars and send you on your merry way. Unless, of course, you signed up to receive an additional sixty dollars by agreeing to let us take you apart, put some Science in you, and put you back together, in which case, well, just follow the Test Associate."

The prerecorded message abruptly shut off, leaving Cave Johnson's voice echoing throughout the hallways.

"That man was insane," I said, finding the aforementioned blue line and following it.

"He was brilliant," GLaDOS replied. "His genius was the cause of the Portal Device, Long-Fall Boot, Aerial Faith Plate, and many more besides. It was his idea to create an Artificial Intelligence. Without him, I wouldn't be here, and, conceivably, neither would you." She paused. "But, yes, he was a little insane," she conceded.

I grinned. "So, do we follow the insane man's instructions? Will that lead us out of here?"

GLaDOS nodded. "Yes. Follow the blue line."

We followed the blue line. It ran the length of several hallways, up two flights of stairs, through an Observation Room, and finally ended at an old, defunct-looking door. GLaDOS hacked into it as she had the door that led into the Enrichment Shaft. She looked over at me. "When this door opens, I want you to do exactly as I say. I have no idea what is behind this door. It could be a legion of Mobile Turrets, it could be nothing. But until the Moron is dealt with, you follow my instructions to the _t, _understand?"

I nod. "You got it, GLaDOS."

"Good." She types in the command. The door creaks open. Bright light poured in from the surface. I covered my eyes as my vision adjusted. GLaDOS stood in the open doorway, waiting for me. My hand fell from my face, and I nodded.

"Let's go."

_**Yeah, yeah. I wasn't really feeling this one. Does it show?**_

_** Anyways, please tell me what you guys think! Reviews = Happiness for me = Faster Updates.**_

_** -Wolverinejoe **_


	10. Storming The Gates

The sun was beginning to set as GLaDOS and Chell reached the outskirts of the Research Facility. The Enrichment Shaft and subsequent exit had deposited the two perhaps six miles away from the Escape Lift.

"Stop." GLaDOS said suddenly. Chell leaned the ASHPD against a wall and rubbed her sore arm. The former Test Subject quirked an eyebrow, but otherwise ignored the supercomputer. "Listen," the Aperture machine insisted.

Chell glanced at GLaDOS. "What is it?"

"You can't hear it?"

"Can't hear what?" Chell asked. She cocked her head and listened, but only heard the wind whistling through the trees.

GLaDOS rolled her eyes. "The human auditory system really leaves a lot to be desired." Gesturing down at the Facility, the Android continued, saying, "The optic of an Aperture Science Turret runs on a thermal battery. A thermal battery is a type of battery that use molten salts like sodium as an electrolyte that operates at temperatures in excess of 400° Celsius. These batteries are efficient enough to power full-sized vehicles, so it was the natural choice for the power supply for the Turrets. However, as a side result of the high temperatures, the Turrets' optics give off a high-pitched squeal, around 28,000 Hertz, well over the audible range for humans. Fortunately, this body has a hearing range of over 50,000 Hertz."

Chell's eyes glazed over at GLaDOS's over-explanation. "Run that by me again, only in English this time."

GLaDOS sighed, glaring at Chell. "The Turrets use a hot battery. The hot batteries make a noise. I can hear the noise. There are two Mobile Turrets coming this way. Is that simple enough for you to comprehend?"

Chell nodded. "Yeah… Wait. There are Turrets coming?"

"Of course." GLaDOS pressed up against the side of the building. As if on cue, two of the Black Mesa constructs passed the wall, scanning the area.

Chell froze. GLaDOS, however, did the exact opposite. Waiting for the first Turret to pass, she leapt out at the second, grabbing the machine by its arms. The Turret let out a robotic shriek of synthesized pain as the Android literally ripped the Turret's guns from it sides. The leading Turret could only watch as GLaDOS wrenched its comrade's weapons from its body. Turning on the other Turret, GLaDOS fired, filling the machine with nearly two dozen bullets in less than two seconds.

The Black Mesa machines fell to the ground, electricity sparking off their broken circuits.

GLaDOS grabbed Chell's arm. "Come on. That probably set off a dozen or so alarms. This place will be full of Mobile Turrets in two and a half minutes. We need to find the Moron."

Chell nodded, glancing at the disabled Turrets as the two women fled the scene. GLaDOS led them into a small building, nearly dislocating Chell's arm in the process. The building must have been a lab from the Research Facility, for several computers lined the white walls.

"Thank God." Dropping Chell's arm, GLaDOS switched on the monitor and began typing furiously. "Guard the door. Don't let anything through," the Android ordered, not looking up from the blue screen. Chell complied, sealing off the entrance by stacking a desk next to the door.

"What are you doing?" Chell asked, picking up the dismembered gun that was once attached to the Mobile Turret. Looking it over, she accidentally pulled the trigger on the underbelly of the device. "Jesus!" she shouted as the sensitive mechanism spat out several rounds of ammunition.

"Damn it, Chell, watch what you're doing!" GLaDOS shouted. "Save it for the Turrets!" She returned her attention to the computer, fingers flying over the keyboard. "I'm trying to hack the security system. If I can make it past the firewall, I should be able to identify the Moron's location." She typed another line of code before continuing. "Luckily for us, this security system was designed by a bunch of neophyte Black Mesa employees. It shouldn't take me too long to-"

A metallic _thunk! _interrupted the Android's explanation. Chell tightened her grip on the Turret's gun, turning to face the door. "I think they found us," Chell said.

"Well, we'd better hope that door holds," was GLaDOS's short reply.

_Thunk!_

"Something tells me we're not going to be so lucky," Chell glanced nervously at GLaDOS, who momentarily paused to take stock of the door.

"Since when have either of us ever been _lucky?_"she asked, once more attempting to hack into the computer. "Let's see. You were captured during 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day', and were held at Aperture for over a decade until you matured enough for testing. When you did, you escaped Test Chamber 19 and began vagabonding about the Enrichment Shaft until you managed to make your way to me, whom you promptly murdered."

_Thunk!_

"After slaughtering me and violently dumping my remains into an Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator, you were, I assume, reclaimed by a Party Escort Bot and brought to an Extended Relaxation Vault, where you slept for well over _two hundred years _before waking and setting off to kill me once again."

"To be fair," Chell interrupted, "I wasn't trying to kill you when Wheat – when the Moron woke you up. I was just trying to get out."

"Irrelevant. So, you teamed up with the Moron and somehow managed to overthrow me. Then, as you well know, he decided to transfer me into a _potato _and send the both of us down into Old Aperture."

_Thunk!_

"_Then-_"

"Okay! I get it! We're not lucky! I get the concept!" Chell shouted, throwing a pointed glare in the direction of GLaDOS, who only chuckled. "Are you done with yet?" she asked, gesturing to the computer.

"Very nearly. I've made it into the mainframe, now all that's needed is to locate Him…" the Android trailed off, her gaze returning to the computer screen.

_Thunk!_

"Got him! He's in Wallace Breen's office. Main Laboratories, Top Floor." GLaDOS stood, searching the room for an alternate exit. Eyeing the ventilation shafts, she leapt onto a desk and pried open a metal grate. "Come on! We can reach him through here!"

Chell nodded, glancing once more at the door.

_Thunk!_

"I still can't believe the door held," Chell said, joining GLaDOS atop the desk.

_Thunk!_

_CRACK! _The door flew off its hinges, revealing dozens – if not hundreds – of Mobile Turrets, guns at the ready.

"…"

"I hate you _so_ much right now," GLaDOS deadpanned.

The Turrets opened fire.

* * *

><p>GLaDOS wrapped her arms around Chell and spun so her body was between Chell's and the Mobile Turrets. The sound of hot metal meeting flesh soon filled the air as the bullet after countless bullet struck the Android. Diving off the desk, Chell still wrapped in her arms, GLaDOS landed behind a heavy table, which she quickly overturned, creating a barrier between them and the Turrets.<p>

One that would not last long, if at all.

Swearing, GLaDOS relinquished Chell's hold on Turret's gun, standing up from the makeshift shelter to fill several of the Black Mesa machines with lead. Despite the grave circumstances, an old Aperture advertisement for the Turrets swam to the front of her mind. "We fire the whole bullet! That's sixty-five percent more bullet per bullet!" GLaDOS took cover, dropping down behind the table. She winced at the sound of ammunition ricocheting off the metal table.

"Wh-What do we do?" Chell asked, huddling against the table.

"We're going to have to fight our way to the Moron. He's in Wallace Breen's office. The headquarters of this entire facility. There should be a way to shut down the Turrets from there. No, there _will _be a way, even if it means having to destroy every single one of these abominations by hand."

Chell nodded.

GLaDOS grabbed a line of metal pipe – possibly a part of the plumbing system, long out of commission due to years without maintenance – and passed the Turret's weapon to Chell. "What are you doing?" The former test subject asked.

GLaDOS grinned. "Cover me."

Chell could only watch as the Android kicked at the table with both feet. The table skidded towards the wave of Mobile Turrets, crushing several of the metallic constructs. GLaDOS leapt into the swarm of Turrets, a savage roar escaping her lips.

Looking back on the scene, Chell would best describe it as something one would see in an action movie. Images superimposed onto each other that, put together, hardly seemed real. In one moment, GLaDOS was here, wrenching the guns from a Turret as she had earlier, a second later, she was across the room, decapitating a Mobile Turret with one swing of her pipe. The Android moved impossibly fast. The Mobile Turrets really didn't stand a chance. GLaDOS rammed the pipe straight through the optic of one Turret. Now weaponless, she turned to the next machine and grabbed it. Using the Turret itself as a bat, she spun in a circle, knocking the Turrets surrounding her to the floor, where they were promptly dispatched. GLaDOS then hurled the Turret in her arms at the nearest wall, where it exploded in a shower of sparks.

GLaDOS returned to the Turret she had blinded with her metal pipe. Grabbing the length of metal, she yanked upwards, effectively tearing it out from the automaton. She inspected the steel cylinder, running her hand along the cool metal. Finding it satisfactory, she turned to Chell, who hadn't moved since GLaDOS had kicked the table.

"You… You just…"

"Singlehandedly dispatched perhaps forty separate Mobile Turrets within five minutes of each other?" she smirked when Chell nodded slowly. "Well, don't worry. There will be plenty more where we're headed." Gesturing for Chell to follow her, she continued. "There's no point in trying to be discreet anymore."

Chell stepped over the still-sparking corpse of a Mobile Turret. "You call this being discreet?"

"Ha-Ha. _Very _funny. As I was saying, He knows we are here. We may as well attempt a frontal assault on his position. A storming of the metaphorical gates, as it were."

Chell left the Turret's gun behind. It was out of ammunition, and would only slow her down. "I guess so…" her hand drifted lazily to the handgun still tucked in her jumpsuit.

"No need to worry, Chell. I doubt the Moron will be heavily guarded. I estimate only ten, perhaps twenty Mobile Turrets will be guarding his hideout. Soon enough, the Moron will be dead. Just you wait."

"If you say so," said the former test subject. Internally, however, Chell had her doubts. She was positive that she had shot Wheatley last time she had been here, and He had shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

The two reached the Main Laboratories wing of the facility. The room looked just as it had when first Chell had seen it. The dried blood from her arm still stained the linoleum floors, leaving an easy trail to follow. It took the duo perhaps two minutes to arrive at the base of the stairs leading to Wallace Breen's office.

"Well, this is it," GLaDOS said. "Up these steps waits the Moron himself, hiding out in his former boss's lair. Shall we continue?"

Chell nodded. "Unless you'd like to go back now."

GLaDOS snickered. "I think not."

Chell drew her firearm, and GLaDOS readied her pipe. Together, the two began up the steps, on highest alert for any Mobile Turrets, or perhaps for Ryan Wheatley himself. Slowly, flight by flight, the Android and the human approached the office of Wallace Breen, finally arriving at the top floor.

GLaDOS was right. Exactly twenty Mobile Turrets stood outside the double doors leading to the CEO's office.

GLaDOS eyed Chell's gun and mouthed, _'how many bullets?' _

Chell quietly took the clip out of the gun and checked the ammunition. 'S_ix,' _she mouthed back, replacing the magazine and clicking off the safety.

GLaDOS held up five fingers. Five shots.

Chell nodded. Taking a deep breath, she leapt up, into the view of the Mobile Turrets.

_"Hello."_

_ "There you are."_

_ "I see you."_

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Five Mobile Turrets fell. Before the remaining fifteen could return fire, GLaDOS had bridged the distance between them and her. Her metal pipe soon dispatched the leftover machines, and seemingly no time had passed before the hallway was quiet once more, save for the ambient hum of fluorescent lighting.

Chell joined her former enemy before the large entryway. "You ready?" she asked, glancing at the Android.

GLaDOS nodded. "Let's kill this bastard, already." She aimed a kick at the space just below the doorknob, and the doors flew open.

_** Hey, all. Sorry for the huge gap between chapters, but a combination of my own laziness and life being a ** have hampered my progress. Not to worry, this thing is Still Alive, and **_**will **_**continue. **_

_**Read, Review, all that jazz. Wolverinejoe out.**_


	11. Boss Fight!

_** Heyo~! I'm back! **_

_** Holy crap, already on chapter eleven. That's freaking awesome. We're almost done!**_

The doors burst open, the force of GLaDOS's kick sending them flying off their hinges.

There he was. Ryan Wheatley sat in the chair at the CEO's desk, facing the Android and former Test Subject. His hands were folded, resting casually on the mahogany desk. An amused smirk played on his lips as he watched GLaDOS and Chell.

"Hello, lovelies. It's been a _long _time," he grinned wryly, mimicking the synthesized voice that had greeted him and Chell when GLaDOS had first reawoken.

"Not long enough," GLaDOS growled, slowly approaching the Black Mesa employee.

Wheatley clicked his tongue. "Is that any way to talk to an old friend? I mean, after _all _we've been through-"

"Old friend? Your time in space must have scrambled your brain, Moron." GLaDOS said, striking the palm of her hand with the length of metal pipe. "Let me explain: you are going to die."

Wheatley chucked, shaking his head. "You always were a funny one, GLaDOS." He stood, eyeing the Android as he did so. "Funny, funny, funny. That one where you shot me into space? Bloody _hilarious._" Sliding the chair back into the desk, his gaze fell on Chell. "Well, if it isn't the Test Subject herself. How's it been, luv? Enjoyed the past few weeks? I've had an absolutely _wonderful _time." Crossing his arms in front of him and leaning back on the desk, Wheatley beamed at Chell.

Chell glared back, saying nothing. Her stormy gray eyes bored into Wheatley's.

"What's wrong, Chelley dear? Schrödinger's Cat got your tongue?" He laughed to himself, returning his focus to the Android. "A real charmer, isn't she?"

"She tends to grow on you," GLaDOS replied evenly.

"Well, well, well. What have we here? Has Ms. GLaDOS gone soft? Last I remember, you wanted nothing more than to kill the lot of us. And now you're all buddy-buddy. This is just _brilliant. _In fact-" Wheatley's monologue was interrupted by GLaDOS swinging her pipe in a wide arc towards him.

Wheatley became a blur. He dodged to the left, shaking his head and wagging his finger at the Android. "Tsk tsk, GLaDOS dear. That is mahogany." Yelling, GLaDOS made to strike him again, but only hit air. "Come now, GLaDOS," said Wheatley, appearing behind her. "You're going to have to do a _lot _better than that if you actually want to hit me."

GLaDOS quirked an eyebrow at Wheatley's movements. "How are you-"

"Moving so fast? Honestly, I'm disappointed that you even have to ask that. Big, smart computer like you should understand right off the bat. I mean, you did it yourself."

GLaDOS attempted to strike again. Wheatley didn't even move, instead grabbing the fast-approaching steel with a single hand. Stepping towards GLaDOS, he snatched the weapon with both hands and flipped GLaDOS onto the desk.

To her credit, GLaDOS reacted in less than a nanosecond, springing off the mahogany desk and landing across from the Black Mesa employee. "Augments," she spat, facing Wheatley with newfound wariness. "You enhanced yourself."

He clapped slowly and sarcastically. "Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Of course I did. You didn't _really _believe it would be so easy to defeat me, did you?"

Chell slowly edged around Wheatley, taking the tiniest steps possible. His gaze focused on the Android, Chell launched herself at the former construct, meaning to grab him so GLaDOS could retrieve her weapon.

Wheatley sidestepped the oncoming Test Subject and grabbed her by her jumpsuit, flinging her effortlessly into a cabinet lined with old newspaper clippings. The cabinet collapsed on top of her, and she lay still.

Wheatley chuckled, rolling his cerulean eyes. "Foolish girl."

"Chell!" GLaDOS leapt over the desk, ramming Wheatley with both feet. Wheatley flew backwards, releasing his hold on the metal pipe, which clattered loudly to the floor. The Android dove forward, grabbing the weapon and racing towards the augmented human.

She lunged forwards, meaning to impale Wheatley on the pipe. Skirting the blow, Wheatley struck GLaDOS with clenched fists, knocking her back about a foot. GLaDOS growled, launching herself at his abdomen. Hammering the man with enough force to break ribs, GLaDOS tackled Wheatley, hitting him directly in his solar plexus.

Wheatley lay on the ground, trying to regain control of his temporarily-paralyzed diaphragm. Coughing and wheezing in attempt to put air back in his lungs, he watched as GLaDOS hefted her pipe, a savage roar escaping her lips.

It was all Wheatley could do to roll out of the way of the deadly cylinder. Lashing out with his feet, the Black Mesa employee managed to kick the legs out from under GLaDOS, who fell to the cold floor beside the man. Not wasting a moment, GLaDOS sprung up and aimed a vicious kick at Wheatley's throat, who only narrowly avoided the blow.

Wheatley then regained his footing and narrowed his eyes at the Android. After a moment, he began to laugh. Shaking his head, he grinned evilly at GLaDOS.

"What the hell are you laughing about?" GLaDOS spat.

"This sentence," he said, slowly approaching the Android, "is false."

GLaDOS froze, eyes opened wide as the paradox took effect. Rushing the supercomputer, Wheatley attacked with a series of rapid punches, elbows, and kicks. Striking GLaDOS in the jaw with a particularly brutal punch, Wheatley followed up with a savage blow to her stomach, sending her flying back into the desk.

Lying underneath the wooden frame of the cabinet, Chell slowly returned to consciousness. She watched helplessly as Wheatley assaulted GLaDOS, pinning her down and beating her with punch after savage punch. "No," she whispered, shifting the wood atop her. She inched out from under her lumber restraints, trying to do something, anything, to stop the brutal onslaught of her friend. She weakly threw a small remnant of the cabinet at Wheatley, but it flew only a foot before crumpling to the ground. Attempting to stand, Chell collapsed once more, shards of glass and chips of wood burying themselves in her skin.

A large object was pressed in Chell's side, near her hip. Looking down, the metal hilt of her handgun gleamed out at her, as if it wanted to help. Smiling faintly, she slowly reached for the gun, checking the magazine to reassure herself.

One shot.

Taking careful aim, the former Test Subject sluggishly lined Wheatley up in her sights. She aimed for his back, where the third of his thoracic vertebrae appeared like a dent in a sheet of metal. She clicked off the safety.

Wheatley paused his assault of GLaDOS when he heard a small noise, like metal striking metal. He turned towards the source of the sound; the cabinet where he had thrown the girl. He saw her, one gray eye squeezed shut, the other hiding behind the iron sights of a M1911 handgun.

"Oh, bloody _hell_."

Chell squeezed the trigger, pushing the primer into the gunpowder, which ignited, forcing the metal slug out of the grooved barrel and through the cool air of the CEO's office before burying itself deep inside Wheatley's spine. The Black Mesa employee slumped to the floor, blood already beginning to pool around him.

Chell crawled out from under the rubble. She stood slowly, steadying herself on the wall. Stumbling over to GLaDOS and Wheatley, Chell prodded the man with her foot. When He didn't move, Chell approached the Android.

"GLaDOS?"

She was lying on the floor, eyes glazed over, muttering to herself.

"If I take what He says to be true, then his postulate is false, which is impossible if he is telling the truth. But if the sentence is false, then the phrase 'the sentence is false' must be true, making the sentence false, which isn't right because it's true that the sentence is false that what he says is true is false…"

"GLaDOS!"

"True lies are false if what He says is true can't be true because it's false, meaning it's false but true false."

Chell kneeled down next to the Android. "GLaDOS, can you hear me? It's Chell. Wheatley is dead."

"…But… The truth of His statement being …false…"

Chell grabbed GLaDOS by the shoulders. "GLaDOS! Listen to me! Snap out of it! Wheatley used a paradox on you!"

"…Postulate…Impossible…Truth…Paradox?"

"Yes. A paradox. GLaDOS, you have to fight it! Just think about something else!"

"Sentence is false… Think about… What?"

"Something! Anything! Think about… Think about Science! Or portals! You like Science, yea?"

"_Science…_False_… Systematic knowledge dealing with the physical or material…_paradox_… world, gained through knowledge and…_Moron…_observation." _

"Yes. That's good. Keep going, GLaDOS."

"_The different branches of Science, also referred to as the Sciences, Scientific fields, or Scientific disciplines, are commonly divided into…_Lemons…_two major groups, Natural Science, which studies natural phenomena, and Social Sciences, which study…_Black Mesa?..._human behavior. Natural Science can be further divided into Physical or Life Sciences..." _GLaDOS's eyes fluttered and refocused on Chell. "…Chell?"

Chell sighed in relief. "Thank God."

The Android sat up, putting a hand to her forehead. "I have a _terrible _headache… What the Hell happened?" her gaze fell on Wheatley and the crimson pool surrounding him. "He enhanced himself… yes, I remember that. Then… He threw you… and… He used a Paradox, didn't he?"

Chell nodded. "Yeah. He rushed you, and then I shot him."

"Huh." The Android took another look at Wheatley before returning her gaze to the human. "Let's go. We've no reason to stay here any longer."

The two stood. Chell took two steps before crying out and falling to the floor, clutching her side.

"Chell!" GLaDOS rushed to the Test Subject's side. "What happened?" Placing her hands on Chell's stomach and chest, the Android winced. "You've managed to break three of your ribs, and fractured a fourth. Nice job."

Chell smiled. "Not my fault, GLaDOS."

"I know." Placing Chell's arm over her shoulder, GLaDOS stood. "Can you walk?"

The Test Subject nodded painfully.

"Good."

_"Not… So… Fast…" _rasped a voice. The two turned to see Wheatley, staring up at them, hate in his eyes. A handheld radio was in his hands. With trembling hands, the dying man brought the radio up to his face and clicked the switch. "P..._Prometheus." _

A klaxon sounded, and a woman's voice came on over the P.A. "Keyword _Prometheus _accepted. Explosives armed and set to detonate in T-minus twelve minutes. Please proceed to the nearest Black Mesa Emergency Survival Pod, or you will perish in the explosion taking place in T-Minus eleven minutes and thirty seconds. Have a nice day."

Wheatley laughed, a rasping, hollow sound that seemed wet with blood. "Good luck getting out, _Aperture."_

_** Wheatley, you bastard. You've rigged the whole place with explosives, haven't you?**_

_** Wheatley: I regret nothing!**_

_** …Moron.**_

_** 'Till next time! Read and Review! Especially Review!**_

_** -Wolverinejoe**_


	12. Michael Bay

_** I'm back! **_

_** Holy crap, this is Chapter Twelve. This'll probably be the last **_**real **_**chapter to this fic. I'm surprised I even got this far, but I'll talk about that later.**_

_** Without further ado, Chapter Twelve!**_

"Good luck getting out, _Aperture." _Wheatley coughed, and blood splattered on the cold linoleum. He collapsed, taking quick, shallow breaths. From deep within his throat came a terrible rattling noise.

_The death rattle, _GLaDOS thought. _Produced by a subject who is near death as saliva collects in the throat. Often accompanied by agonal respiration, it is caused by the loss of the cough reflex, along with the inability to swallow, and the passage of what is usually the victim's final breath through the accumulated mucus._ "Come on," she said to Chell. "We have to leave."

Chell nodded, slowly turning away from the gruesome sight. She took several breaths to steady herself, and attempted to walk out the door to the stairwell.

I say attempted. After taking a step, she seized up, clutching her chest. She would have fallen had GLaDOS not rushed to her side and caught her injured friend. "Are you okay?" she asked, concern flashing in her eyes.

"I… No," Chell admitted, wincing as she did so. "I can't walk."

GLaDOS swore. "We don't have time for this! This whole place is going to come down on our heads in eleven minutes!" Sliding Chell's arm over her shoulder, GLaDOS hoisted her up, bridal-style, supporting her legs and upper back.

Grimacing, Chell tried to ignore the starbursts of pain in her side and chest. She nodded tersely to GLaDOS, who began running down flight after flight of stairs.

Progress was slow. Strong as she was, GLaDOS was unaccustomed to carrying the excess weight that Chell provided (No, Chell, that was _not _a fat joke). GLaDOS very nearly dropped her several times during their erratic flight down the stairwells.

"Detonation will commence in T-Minus seven minutes and counting."

GLaDOS swore again. "This isn't going to work," she muttered, pouring on the speed. They were still only on the eighth floor, and even if they _could _reach the bottom level and subsequently exit the Research Facility, she had no way of knowing the type of explosives rigged within the building, or how much explosives were used, or how far she had to get Chell so she wouldn't perish in the blast. Humans were _so _fragile. You couldn't even throw them into a cabinet without them fracturing and breaking ribs. They died so easily. She remembered the time, forever ago, when the neurotoxin had proven that exact point hundreds of times over. Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. So many had died. The same would, in all probability, happen to the former Test Subject she held in her arms. Instead of by neurotoxin, it would be by blood loss or by the shockwave sure to follow the explosion. GLaDOS could practically _feel _Life laughing at her, handing her lemons. This was her fate.

No. GLaDOS forced the thought from her mind. There was one human that would not die today. GLaDOS would not accept these lemons. Adrenaline – or, to be more precise, a much-concentrated version she had concocted herself, called _Plieoepinephrinectasis_– coursed through her body. Optics dilating, heart beating at a pace that would downright _frighten _a human physician, GLaDOS flew down the last flight of stairs.

Only to nearly collide with the wall of Mobile Turrets that awaited her.

There was no way to count the army of machines standing before the two. They filled the entire room, crammed so tightly together GLaDOS could hear the metal scraping as the Turrets collectively turned to face her. The Turrets' bodies opened, revealing the deadly machineguns that sneered at GLaDOS as if daring her to move. The childlike voices of the Turrets melded together into a cacophonous refrain, heralding the imminent death of the Apertures.

"_I see you."_

Chell closed her eyes, not wanting to see the wall of molten lead that was sure to follow. _This is where I die, _she thought. Death had always been a possibility during her ordeals at Aperture; at times, it had seemed the more likely outcome. But she had, against all odds, survived. She had completed nineteen Tests, survived death by fire, managed to kill GLaDOS, overthrown Her, fallen who knows how many miles down into Old Aperture, banished Wheatley to the moon, and killed Him. But here she was, limp in GLaDOS's arms, awaiting Death via the hot metal ammunition of the Mobile Turrets. She had never been the religious type, but she briefly wondered what would happen to her after she died. Would her afterlife, should it even exist, be one of torture or of bliss?

She would never know, for at that exact moment gunfire resonated throughout the building. Chell huddled against GLaDOS, waiting for her inevitable death. After a tense moment when nothing happened, she dared to open her eyes.

The Turrets were firing, all right – but not at her. Rather, they all had about-faced and were engaged in massive shootout – with the Military Androids. The Aperture machines had appeared seemingly out of thin air.

GLaDOS grinned. "Right on time," she said, glancing down at Chell. "What? You didn't think I wouldn't have a contingency plan, did you? The second that countdown started, I ordered Delta-Five-Six and the other Androids to make their way to the Research Facility. I suppose we're lucky they made it here as quickly as they did, though."

Chell glared pointedly at the Android. "You let me think we were going to die."

GLaDOS shook her head. "I'm afraid that's still a very real possibility. The Military Androids, skilled though they are, can't hope to deactivate each and every one of the Mobile Turrets. There is simply too many of them." She winced as a stray bullet flew past her head.

"So…What?" Chell asked.

In answer, GLaDOS knelt down, depositing Chell behind the stairwell. "Stay here. You should be relatively safe from the Turrets. Keep your head down. I'll be back." Before Chell could reply, GLaDOS had stood, given her a sharp nod, and rushed into the fray.

Not a moment too soon. The Military Androids were fighting a losing battle. They were far outnumbered by the Black Mesa machines. GLaDOS watched as an Android gunned down a Turret, only for two more to appear in its place and close in on the Aperture device. GLaDOS roared, racing towards them. Launching a savage kick at one of the Turrets, she spun and grabbed the other machine by its guns, smashing it onto the cold floor.

The Android that would have otherwise been terminated by the Mobile Turrets – Omega-Seven-Seven - skittered to its feet and saluted. "There's no time for that!" GLaDOS yelled, turning to the nearest Turret and wrenching out its guns the way she had earlier that night – was it really only that night? It seemed like a month age. "We need to get out of here! The whole building's rigged to self-destruct any minute!" She opened fire, and a Turret fell to the floor, emitting a high-pitched shriek.

Omega-Seven-Seven nodded. "We have sustained heavy losses during the firefight. Myself, Delta-Five-Nine, Sigma-Three-Eight, and Alpha-One-Nine are the only remaining Military Androids. We estimate there to be little over forty Mobile Turrets still active and able to fight." The Android fired, striking a small group of Turrets. "Make that little over thirty-six."

"Detonation will commence in T-Minus two minutes and thirty seconds."

GLaDOS swore. "I need to evacuate Chell. She has serious injuries from the battle with the Moron. Tell the other Androids to cover me." Dropping her weapons, the supercomputer raced away, fighting her way through the crowd of machines to where she had left Chell.

The former Test Subject was slumped over, eyes closed. GLaDOS placed two forefingers on Chell's neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but faint. "Damn." Chell needed medical attention. Now.

"Detonation in T-Minus two minutes."

The Androids formed a tight circle around GLaDOS and Chell. Any Mobile Turret that tried to attack the two would meet the deadly resistance given by the Aperture machines that surrounded them. As the Military Androids finished off the Black Mesa forces, GLaDOS made her way to the exit.

"Detonation in T-Minus one minute and thirty seconds."

GLaDOS raced through the decaying, weed-filled grounds of the Research Facility, clutching the unconscious human tight against her chest.

"T-Minus one minute."

Passing through the gate, GLaDOS ran down the long-deserted streets of the abandoned city. Remnants of Mobile Turrets – along with other things GLaDOS did not care to think about, namely the corpses and skeletons of the forgotten denizens of the city – littered the streets.

"Thirty seconds."

GLaDOS reached the outskirts of the city. A steep hill was the only way forward. Setting her jaw, she began the hard trek up the slope, mentally counting down the seconds that remained until the Facility exploded.

"Ten seconds."

GLaDOS tripped over something. She fell forwards, nearly dropping Chell into a pit of fresh mud. Swearing, she stood, sparing a glance at what had caused the fall.

"Five."

A decayed human face could be seen despite the low light. The grotesque corpse had been defiled by the elements, but GLaDOS was positive it was the one she had seen all that time ago, through the camera placed in the old Companion Cube.

"Four."

Reaching the top of the hill, GLaDOS stopped, turning back to face the city. _This must be a safe distance, _she thought, calculating the distance between them and the Research Facility.

"Three."

Kneeling down on the soft grass, GLaDOS could see the Military Androids racing down the streets to join her. Delta-Five-Nine fired a few final shots into the building.

"Two."

GLaDOS looked down at Chell. Her eyes fluttered and opened. "GLaDOS?" she asked, confused.

"One."

GLaDOS turned Chell so she was facing the Facility. "Look."

The city gleamed with light. From the distance, you couldn't tell that it was abandoned, or that an evil man had once taken shelter in its buildings. You would never know that that man was now dead, lying in a pool of his own blood in the office of what had once been a Research Facility for Black Mesa. From the distance, the city looked peaceful.

"Zero."

The Facility exploded. The shockwave from the blast knocked the Androids off their feet. GLaDOS had to take hold of Chell to stop her from falling. The still-intact windows in the buildings shattered, covering the streets of the city in broken glass. The buildings themselves were the next to fall as their foundations crumbled under the force of the explosion. Frameworks shattering, the whole of the city seemed to fall into the earth as the concrete it was set inside was destroyed.

GLaDOS laughed. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, glancing down at her companion.

Chell mumbled something unintelligible before collapsing once more into GLaDOS's arms. Gently lifting her off the ground, GLaDOS turned away from the remains of the city, throwing the ruins one last look before slowly walking off into the night.

_**Well? How was it? You like? Review me!**_

_** This is the last official chapter of **_**Portal Cubed. **_**There'll be an epilogue, of sorts, but this is basically it. So, to all of you who have Favorited/Story Alerted/Author Alerted, this may be your last chance to tell me your thoughts on my story. So Review!**_

_**Till next time,**_

_**Wolverinejoe**_


	13. Awakening

It's bright.

My eyes flicker open. I instantly regret opening them as the harsh fluorescents burn my eyes, threatening to blind me. My eyes water and blink rapidly, trying in vain to adjust my vision. A heavy sigh escapes my lips as I oh-so-slowly return to consciousness. I sit up. Well, I try to, at any rate. A starburst of pain rips through my body, sending me sprawling back onto the hospital bed. My side is on fire. I think I pass out again.

The pain has lessened. I grit my teeth and try to sit up again. Another shockwave runs up my chest, but I don't fall again. My feet clench up as they touch the cold floor, and a large shiver runs down my spine. I realize I'm not wearing my jumpsuit, but rather a large, white hospital gown. The Aperture logo is emblazoned on the chest pocket. Seeing the black triangles makes me feel safe.

I stand. My legs quake and threaten to buckle, but I remain standing. I focus on a nearby table, where some folded clothes rest, along with a small mirror. I take a wobbly step towards the table, nearly collapsing as I do so. It's almost as if I've forgotten how to walk.

I stumble over to the table, holding out a hand to steady myself on the lightly-colored wood. I strip off the hospital gown and freeze as I get my first look at my body under the bright lights.

"Jesus." I know I'd gotten pretty beat up during my time in Aperture, but you had to grit your teeth and carry on, unless you wanted to be shot full of holes, or burned to a crisp, or… well, let's just say you had to keep on your toes. Only I hadn't taken into account the accumulation of scars that dated all the way back to my first few Test Chambers. Marks left by shattered glass, by Thermal Discouragement Beams, by grazed bullets, by fire. Then there was the wound in my arm, courtesy of the Mobile Turrets. And of course the bandages wrapped around my sides from when Wheatley had thrown me. My skin was like a map where you could trace all the horrible things that had happened.

I shake the thoughts out of my head. _It doesn't matter, _I tell myself as I slip on the clothes left for me. Apparently GLaDOS is out of jumpsuits, for I now wear brown cargo pants, a black T-shirt and a white labcoat.

Clad in my new attire, I walk to the door, swaying a little with each step. I'm not used to walking without my Long-Fall Boots.

Two Military Androids are standing guard outside my door. They salute me as I enter the hallway. "The General wishes to see you," one says after I've returned the gesture. "She has instructed us to escort you to Her Chamber as soon as you were able."

I nod. The Androids turn on their heels and begin marching down the halls. I have to jog in order to keep up with them.

I'm breathing heavily when we arrive at Her Chamber. The Androids glance at each other and take up positions at the chamber door. I take a moment to compose myself and walk through the opening.

GLaDOS is waiting for me. The massive supercomputer turns as I enter, and a rush of static fills the chamber as she sighs with relief. "Thank God, you're alright."

I grin up at her, and she chuckles. "Hmm. I've said that before, haven't I? Nevertheless, I _am _glad you're awake. You were in critical condition when we arrived at the Hospital Wing. We had to work all night on you. Then you went and slept for an entire_ week. _Some of the staff assumed you'd slipped into a coma, but _I _knew you were just being lazy."

I roll my eyes and look about the chamber. A large cylinder next to the Escape Lift catches my gaze. "Is that..?"

"That is where my Android body is stored when not in use." The light flicker and GLaDOS goes limp. The cylinder opens, white smoke pouring out of the structure. GLaDOS's form appears amid the smoke, which clears after a moment or two.

The Android grins at me. "I must say, I rather enjoy this body. The sense of mobility is quite enjoyable," she says, walking around me. She gazes up at the limp machine above the two of us… her. "My, my. Am I really that intimidating? And beautiful, I might add."

"Let's not forget humble," I say, smirking at GLaDOS.

She rolls her eyes. "I don't recall asking your opinion, Chell. Allow me to admire myself. You certainly have no objection to the concept."

Scoffing, I wander over to the Escape Lift. GLaDOS's eyes are on me as the glass doors slide open. "So what happens now?" I ask.

"That is up to you," she replies, looking away. "There is nothing stopping you from leaving Aperture. If you so wish, you may leave now." She pauses for a moment before continuing. "However, I, along with Orange, Blue, and the Military Androids, have no objections to you… staying."

Our eyes meet. "And here I was sure you would want me to leave."

She shakes her head. "No. In the past, yes, I had wished that you had left. When you did, though… Well, I no longer Want You Gone."

I smile at the Android. "So I'll stay."

_**And that's a wrap! Before you say anything, YES, I know the ending isn't the best. My Muse and I agreed that this would be hard to do, and hard it certainly was. But, we managed to finish this.**_

_**I'd like to thank each and every one of my readers for helping me during this adventure. You guys have encouraged me with your reviews, and you all are the real reason this fic was able to be completed. I'm going to express my gratitude by thanking you all, here and now, in the final Author's Note of Portal Cubed.**_

_**Story Alerts (those that added this fic to your Story Alerts): A Guy Named George; Animefanatic5602; ApertureX; Arvata; Assozat; Cder3; chilled blood; Codelyok13; DarkWind13; DiceRox09; DoomReaverX; elfowlgirl; epicdonut2344; EthanTek; FMAlcheholic; GLaDOS2.0; iDOG; Invader Viceroy; IronWolf115; ITman496; Jericho525; Keisanki; Lilypad the Fourth; lordzoabar; MadHighlander; MagicWhiz45; Mellifluousness; MentalLapsus; Moonshadow9992; My Eternal Façade; Noir Detective; Omegakishan; Peebo2206; Purple Spy; Quoth the Raven1111; Rakivia; Roamingmercenary; Ruxas; Smorgesborg; sullyz; swimfeared; Techman2012; TheInvisibleQuestion; Topaz18; Ulster Gold; Wario Roo; and Wizardwolf607**_

_**Favorites (those that added this fic to your Favorite Stories): Apathetic Sympathy; Arvata; ASHPoD67; Catflower Queen; cder3; chilled blood; Demonhedgehog; DiceRox09; EthanTek; Eyriegryph; Faustian5; GLaDOS2.0; Invader Viceroy; JinxH; knightwolf57; Korekara; L.L x C.C; Mellifluousness; MuRaSaKi-Rein; naru-chan 92; Nova Cameron; OnyxWraith; phantomdemon2; PyroPotter; Rakivia; Randomness Equals Happiness; Roamingmercenary; Rorschach test; Shimmer-chan; Shodaime Gahokage; Smorgesborg; sullyz; Techman2012; ThatFailGuy; Topaz18; and Wizardwolf607**_

_**Reviews (those that reviewed) [In Order of Appearance]: iDOG; Wizardwolf607; Rose Starglen; axel100; knightwolf57; Mellifluousness; sullyz; Topaz18; Redleaf; Riekland; suntan50; Codelyok13; aanon; DarkWind13; DiceRox09; SayWUT; Species Unknown; GLaDOS2.0; Korekara; Glacier; TheInvisibleQuestion; Good chapter; Sgt. Creeper; Smorgesborg; Invader Viceroy; ASHPoD67; Anon; Guest; chilled blood; Assozat; and SupahNyanCat**_

_**Wow. That was a lot more than I'd expected. But seriously: Thanks to all of you.**_

_**Now, let's skip to the post-credits teaser scene, shall we?**_

The small city was in ruins. Many of the buildings had crumbled under the pressure put on them by the explosions. Rubble and broken shards of glass filled the streets.

If a passerby were to find the city – perhaps a scavenger, hunting for food, or a loner searching for somewhere to spend the night – they would pay it no heed. They would take one look at the collapsed buildings and turn away, knowing there was nothing to be found beneath the massive piles of debris.

But they would be wrong. If they took the time to traverse the wreckage, making their way to the city's center, they would find an abandoned facility that had somehow survived destruction. If this hypothetical passerby were to enter the facility and climb the many flights of stairs, they would find a large room. That room would contain a body, surrounded by a crimson pool of blood.

Maybe this passerby would take a closer look at the body. The passerby would walk forwards and kneel down, inspecting the corpse, no doubt looking to see if there were any valuable items to be obtained. Perhaps they would see the wireframe glasses that adorned the dead man's face. If the passerby was relatively smart, they would know that the convex lenses could be used to focus the sun's rays to create a fire. So it is not at all inconceivable that this passerby would attempt to take the glasses from the man. If that were to happen, however, they would see one more thing before they died.

They would see the man's cerulean eyes open wide.


End file.
